Asylum: Children

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she had with the Scottish Executive on procedures in place for dealing with unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in the UK who are resident in Scotland.

Liam Byrne: A number of discussions between the UK Border Agency and the Scottish Executive at official level have taken place over the past 12 months about reforms to the support and management of unaccompanied asylum seeking children. These will continue as the reform progresses.

Departmental Official Hospitality

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2007,  Official Report, column 897W, on departmental official hospitality, when she expects the list of hospitality received in 2007 by members of her Department's management board to be published.

Liam Byrne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster gave him on 7 May 2008,  Official Report, column 885W.

Departmental Pay

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the average pay per hour worked by  (a) permanent and  (b) temporary staff in her Department in the last period for which figures are available, broken down by pay band.

Liam Byrne: The following two tables detail the average hourly rates of pay for Departmental staff, broken down by grade. Table 1 is for permanent employees and Table 2 is for non-permanent and contract employees. The figures cover staff in the core Department, UK Borders Agency, Identity and Passport Service and Criminal Records Bureau. All figures are taken from the May 2008 payroll.
	The average pay figures are based on each employee's main salary payment (known as 'national pay'). They do not include additional allowances such as London Weighting payments.
	
		
			  Table 1: Home Office average 'national pay' rates by grade 
			  Grade description  Hourly average rate (£) 
			 Passport Offr 1 UKPA Nat 6.23 
			 SGB 2 HO National 6.29 
			 AA HO National 6.30 
			 AA HO Gatwick 6.52 
			 SGB 2 HO London 6.82 
			 SGB2 HO Gatwick 6.91 
			 AA HO London 6.93 
			 Assist Immigration Off HO Nat 7.02 
			 SGB 1 HO National 7.15 
			 AO HO National 7.21 
			 Typist HO London 7.31 
			 Passport Offr 2 UKPA Nat 7.35 
			 Typist HO National 7.42 
			 CRB3 7.46 
			 CRB1 7.53 
			 AO Sandridge London 7.64 
			 AO HO Gatwick 7.78 
			 Personal SEC HO Gatwick 7.81 
			 Passport Offr 3 UKPA Nat 7.83 
			 Assist Immigration Off HO Gat 7.85 
			 SGB 1 HO London 7.87 
			 Assist Immigration OFF HO Lon 7.87 
			 SGB2 Sandridge London 7.89 
			 Typist HO Gatwick 7.89 
			 Personal Secretary HO Nat 7.95 
			 AO HO London 7.96 
			 SGB1 Sandridge London 8.02 
			 Passport Offr 1 UKPA Lon 8.31 
			 Support Manager 3 HO Nat 8.61 
			 Personal Secretary HO Lon 8.73 
			 Technical Grade 2 HO Nat 8.77 
			 Typing Manager HO Lon 8.77 
			 Support Manager 3 HO Lon 8.88 
			 Senior Personal Sec HO Nat 9.32 
			 EO HO National 9.49 
			 EOCRB 9.50 
			 EO UKPA National 9.65 
			 EO Sandridge London 9.75 
			 Support Manager 2 HO National 9.77 
			 Asst Scientific Off Sandridge 9.91 
			 Passport Offr 3 UKPA Lon 10.05 
			 SPS Nat CRB 10.10 
			 EO HO London 10.11 
			 Technical Grade 1 Sandridge 10.11 
			 Non Exec. Dir. 10.19 
			 Support Manager 2 HO Lon 10.22 
			 Immigration Off HO Nat 10.46 
			 EO HO Gatwick 10.52 
			 Assist Scientific Off HO Lon 10.55 
			 Senior Personal Sec HO Lon 10.69 
			 Immigration Off HO Lon 10.73 
			 Senior Personal Sec Sandridge 10.75 
			 Asst Information Off HO Nat 10.86 
			 Scientific Officer HO Nat 10.92 
			 Immigration Off HO Gat 10.94 
			 EO Accountant HO National 11.42 
			 Psychologist HO Lon 11.47 
			 Research Offr London 11.59 
			 HEO Sandridge 11.66 
			 EO UKPA London 11.70 
			 HEO HO National 11.80 
			 Assist Statistician HO 12.00 
			 SO Scientific Officer Sandridge 12.08 
			 Research Offr National 12.09 
			 Assist Librarian HO Lon 12.24 
			 HEO-CRB 12.26 
			 PTO HO National 12.35 
			 HEO UKPA National 12.41 
			 Assist Information Off HO Lon 12.42 
			 Economic Assistant HO 12.43 
			 PTO Sandridge London 12.44 
			 Scientific Officer HO Lon 12.56 
			 HEO HO London 12.65 
			 PTO HO London 12.85 
			 Chief Immigration Off HO Nat 13.08 
			 HEO D HO 13.09 
			 EO Accountant HO London 13.11 
			 Scientific Officer S/D HO Nat 13.17 
			 HEO PIIA HO Nat 13.22 
			 Legal Officer L/S 13.49 
			 Chief Immigration Off HO Lon 13.57 
			 Higher Scientific Off Sandridge 13.75 
			 Preserved HEO G OTS (N) 13.85 
			 Info Officer HO Nat 13.87 
			 Infor Officer HO Lon 13.87 
			 Shadow HO HEO Lon 13.92 
			 Librarian HO London 13.94 
			 Higher Scientific Officer L/S 13.94 
			 HEO HO Gatwick 13.94 
			 HGR Scientific Off HO Nat 13.95 
			 Chief Immigration Off HO Gat 14.02 
			 HEO UKPA London 14.09 
			 Chief Typing Mgr HO Lon 14.48 
			 HGR Scient Off S/D RRA HO Lon 14.48 
			 PTO Elec/Tcom/Cons HO Lon 14.63 
			 HPTO HO National 14.72 
			 HSO PSDB National 14.78 
			 SEO UKPA National 14.78 
			 HPTO PSDB National 15.08 
			 HEO MIIA/CCAB HO Nat 15.20 
			 SEO HO National 15.22 
			 HEO Accountant HO Lon 15.27 
			 SEO CRB 15.31 
			 HEO MIA/CCAB IT HO Nat 15.33 
			 HPTO Sandridge London 15.33 
			 Shadow HO SEO Nat 15.44 
			 HPTO HO London 15.71 
			 HEO M11A/CCAB IT HO Lon 15.71 
			 SEO Sandridge 15.81 
			 HGR Scientific Off S/D HO Nat 15.97 
			 Immigration Inspec HO Nat 16.13 
			 SEO HO London 16.20 
			 Shadow HO SFCU Lon 16.30 
			 Senior Psychologist HO Lon 16.64 
			 Immigration Inspec HO Lon 16.85 
			 Senior Res Off HO Lon 16.89 
			 Hgr Scientific Off S/D Sandridge 16.97 
			 HPTO Elec/Tele/Const HO Lon 17.04 
			 Senior Scient Off Sandridge 17.07 
			 Senior Res Off HO Nat 17.10 
			 Senior Scientif Off HO Lon 17.18 
			 HEO M11 A/CCAB HO Lon 17.27 
			 SEO UKPA London 17.32 
			 Immigration Inspec HO Gat 17.42 
			 HEO (ACC) (NAT) UKPS 17.46 
			 SEO Accountant HO Nat 17.56 
			 Senior Information Off HO Lon 17.56 
			 Hgr Scientific Off S/D HO Lon 17.74 
			 Shadow HO SEO Nat 17.89 
			 Snr Prof and Tech Off Sandridge 17.96 
			 Senior Scientif Off HO Nat 18.00 
			 Senior Librarian HO Lon 18.11 
			 Shadow HO SEO Lon 18.16 
			 SPTO HO National 18.22 
			 SEO (ACC) (NAT) UKPS 18.30 
			 SEO-PD 18.32 
			 SEOMIIA/CCAB HO Nat 18.38 
			 Preserved SEO—E RHA 18.41 
			 SPTO HO London 18.47 
			 SEO PIIA HO Lon 18.48 
			 Senior Scientif Off S/D HO Lon 18.66 
			 SEO Accountant HO Lon 18.67 
			 HTTO Sandridge 18.78 
			 Senior Inf Officer Sandridge 18.78 
			 Senior Scientif Off S/D HO Nat 18.88 
			 SEO MIIA/CCAB HO Lon 19.34 
			 SEO MIIA/CCAB IT HO Lon 19.55 
			 SEO ACC CRB 19.73 
			 SPTO Elec/Tcom/Const HO Lon 19.96 
			 Grade 7 HO Gatwick 19.96 
			 Senior Scientific Off Sandridge 20.17 
			 Grade 7 UKPA National 20.48 
			 Grade 7 HO National 20.72 
			 Grade 7 CRB 20.87 
			 SPTO PSDB National 20.89 
			 GRADE 7 Sandridge London 21.64 
			 SEO Accountant UKPA London 21.66 
			 Grade 7 HO London 22.09 
			 Grade 7 Economist Lon HO 23.29 
			 G7 Economic Advisor Lon HO 23.49 
			 Grade 7 UKPA London 24.15 
			 Shadow HO Grade 7 Lon 25.09 
			 Shadow HO Grade 6 Lon 25.83 
			 Grade 6 CRB 26.47 
			 Grade 6 National 26.70 
			 Grade 6 UKPA National 27.02 
			 Grade 6 London 27.38 
			 Grades UKPA London 28.82 
			 Grade 6 Sandridge London 29.25 
			 Grade 6—PD 29.78 
			 Shadow HO Grade 6 Lon 32.28 
			 Senior CS (OS) Pay Band 32.58 
			 Senior CS Pay Band 1 33.66 
			 Supt Inspector (ASP) 35.13 
			 Senior CS Pay Band 1 37.97 
			 Senior CS Pay Band 1 39.45 
			 Senior CS Pay Band 2 47.52 
			 Senior CS Pay Band 3 53.25 
			 Chief Inspector PS 55.42 
			 Senior CS Pay Band 2 57.01 
			 H.M Insp Constab 70.91 
			 Senior CS Pay Band 3 71.33 
			 Permanent Secretary 82.46 
			 Senior CS Pay Band 3 83.61 
			 H.M Chief Insp Constab 98.91 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Home Office average 'national pay' rates by grade (non-permanent or contract staff) 
			  Grade description  Hourly average rate  (£) 
			 AA HO National 6.05 
			 Non Exec. DIR. 6.31 
			 Sandwich Course Student Lon 6.37 
			 AA HO London 6.43 
			 Sandwich Course Student Nat 6.49 
			 AO HO National 6.88 
			 CRB3 6.91 
			 Passport Offr 3 UKPA Nat 6.94 
			 Sandwich Course Student Sandri 6.95 
			 AO HO London 7.52 
			 SGB 1 HO National 7.69 
			 Passport Offr 1 UKPA Lon 7.99 
			 Personal Secretary HO Lon 8.42 
			 EO HO National 8.81 
			 Personal Secretary HO Nat 9.09 
			 EO HO London 9.59 
			 Asst Scientific Off Sandridge 10.11 
			 Research Offr National 10.64 
			 Assist Information Off HO Lon 11.35 
			 Research Offr London 11.64 
			 Economic Assistant HO 11.70 
			 HEO HO London 11.82 
			 Higher Scientific Officer L/S 13.49 
			 Senior Res Off HO Lon 15.08 
			 SEO HO National 15.18 
			 SEO HO London 16.66 
			 SEO Sandridge 17.50 
			 Senior CS (OS) Pay Band 18.73 
			 Grade 7 HO National 21.58 
			 Grade 7 HO London 23.27 
			 Grade 6 National 25.21 
			 Grade 6 London 29.66 
			 Senior CS Pay Band 1 41.36 
			 Senior CS Pay Band 2 43.42 
			 Senior CS Pay Band 1 46.72 
			 H.M Insp Constab 80.46

Departmental Pay

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will review salary negotiations for public sector employees in organisations within her Department's responsibility to reflect the rise in the consumer price index to a point above three per cent.

Liam Byrne: The Government's pay policy is guided by the following principles.
	Public sector pay settlements should be: consistent with maintaining the necessary levels of recruitment, retention and staff engagement needed to support service delivery; ensuring that total pay bills represent value for money and are affordable within Departments' overall expenditure plans; and consistent with the achievement of the inflation target. Timing of pay decisions for a particular work force depends on pay-setting arrangements for that work force.

Deportation: EU Nationals

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many EU nationals were deported from the UK in each of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 20 June 2008
	Information prior to April 2006 is not available due to known data quality issues. The UK Border Agency deported or removed over 4,200 foreign national prisoners in 2007, 525 of these were European economic area nationals.

Driving Under Influence: Testing

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) breathalyser and  (b) drug tests were carried out on drivers in each police force in each of the last three calendar years for which figures are available.

Vernon Coaker: Data held by the Ministry of Justice relate only to the number of screening breath tests taken for alcohol and the number positive or refused. The available information is given in the following table. Information is not collected centrally on subsequent evidential tests for alcohol.
	Tests for drug driving can only be taken using a device of a type approved by the Secretary of State. No type approved devices are yet available. Figures are not collected centrally on the tests which police carry out for impairment which may be due to a drug, These tests do not involve the use of specialist equipment.
	
		
			  The number of screening breath tests by period and police force area, England and Wales 
			   Total number of tests 
			  Police force area  2004  2005  2006 
			 Avon and Somerset 27,300 22,000 15,800 
			 Bedfordshire 7,800 6,700 3,100 
			 Cambridgeshire 12,300 12,500 12,500 
			 Cheshire 20,200 22,000 35,700 
			 Cleveland 8,100 10,800 11,300 
			 Cumbria 8,400 13,600 13,800 
			 Derbyshire 31,000 17,700 16,000 
			 Devon and Cornwall 10.700 10,400 13,600 
			 Dorset 7,000 7,900 8,700 
			 Durham 6,100 7,700 6,900 
			 Essex 25,300 34,200 28,400 
			 Gloucestershire 7,100 9,100 10,100 
			 Greater Manchester 19,900 18,900 18,100 
			 Hampshire 38,400 38,300 34,800 
			 Hertfordshire 7,300 11,900 12,700 
			 Humberside 5,600 5,700 10,000 
			 Kent 32,000 31,200 31,700 
			 Lancashire 10,200 13,000 16,400 
			 Leicestershire (1)15,800 14,400 10,000 
			 Lincolnshire 11,300 11,400 10,600 
			 London, City of 700 1,100 1,600 
			 Merseyside 5,000 8,000 10,600 
			 Metropolitan Police 61,500 67,500 65,000 
			 Norfolk 4,800 10,400 7,800 
			 Northamptonshire 3,200 5,200 4,300 
			 Northumbria 9,800 9,300 7,900 
			 North Yorkshire 8,600 9,300 10,100 
			 Nottinghamshire 8,200 7,900 7,200 
			 South Yorkshire 6,500 13,700 10,300 
			 Staffordshire 13,700 14,300 12,700 
			 Suffolk 10,600 8,900 9,100 
			 Surrey 9,500 9,600 8,300 
			 Sussex 15,200 18,000 18,700 
			 Thames Valley 15,400 14,600 13,500 
			 Warwickshire 5,500 4,800 4,500 
			 West Mercia 8,000 8,800 11,300 
			 West Midlands 6,600 6,900 6,200 
			 West Yorkshire 16,900 15,400 18,000 
			 Wiltshire 7,400 7,200 8,700 
			 Dyfed-Powys 6,700 6,900 7,300 
			 Gwent 1,600 2,000 1,700 
			 North Wales 24,200 21,800 19,600 
			 South Wales 16,700 16,300 17,100 
			 
			 Total 578,000 607,400 601,600 
			 (1) Revised since publication of 'Motoring Offences and Breath Test Statistics, England and Wales, 2004' bulletin.  Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when these data are used.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many overseas students have been granted visas to study in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years, broken down by  (a) age,  (b) sex and  (c) nationality.

Liam Byrne: The information requested is set out in the following tables.
	Please note that it is not possible to breakdown the data for FY 2003-04.
	
		
			  Student visas issued 2003-04 
			   Number 
			 Total number of student visas issued in FY 2003-04 146538 
		
	
	
		
			  Student visas issued 2004-08, by age 
			   Financial Year  
			  Age  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  Grand total 
			 Over 18 159,258 167,559 183,391 187,940 698,148 
			 Under 18 26,818 30,282 36,395 33,326 126,821 
			 Grand total 186,076 197,841 219,786 221,266 824,969 
		
	
	
		
			  Student visas issued 2004-08, by gender 
			   Financial Year  
			  Gender  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  Grand  t otal 
			 Female 85,911 92,162 99,265 100,537 377,875 
			 Male 100,130 105,660 120,497 120,715 447,002 
			 Unknown 20 17 12 10 59 
			 Indeterminate 15 2 12 4 33 
			 Grand Total 186,076 197,841 219,786 221,266 824,969 
		
	
	
		
			  Student visas issued 2004-08, by nationality 
			   Financial Year  
			  Nationality  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  Grand total 
			 Afghanistan 52 73 119 97 341 
			 Albania 278 319 482 522 1,601 
			 Algeria 309 266 434 497 1,506 
			 Andorra  1 5 3 9 
			 Angola 269 351 390 379 1,389 
			 Anguilla — — — 0 0 
			 Antigua and Barbuda 7 10 24 18 59 
			 Argentina 139 186 210 216 751 
			 Armenia 142 141 194 187 664 
			 Australia 764 757 771 877 3,169 
			 Austria — — — 1 1 
			 Azerbaijan 451 470 523 587 2,031 
			 Bahamas 39 75 101 84 299 
			 Bahrain 580 548 637 645 2,410 
			 Bangladesh 2,237 2,976 3,531 3,691 12,435 
			 Barbados 118 177 158 132 585 
			 Belarus 568 701 811 829 2,909 
			 Belgium — — — 1 1 
			 Belize 4 16 17 19 56 
			 Benin 31 36 39 26 132 
			 Bermuda — 1 1 — 2 
			 Bhutan 18 14 17 15 64 
			 Bolivia 91 123 138 90 442 
			 Bosnia and Herzegovina 162 171 133 138 604 
			 Botswana 257 260 357 388 1,262 
			 Brazil 1,078 4,421 3,621 4,271 13,391 
			 British Citizen 4 2 1 1 8 
			 British Dependent Territories — 0 0 1 1 
			 British National Overseas 3,784 3,369 3,032 2,808 12,993 
			 British Overseas Citizen 2 6 6 5 19 
			 British Subject 1 0 0 — 1 
			 Brunei 405 541 659 907 2,512 
			 Bulgaria 682 644 653 1 1,980 
			 Burkina 17 18 17 11 63 
			 Burma (Myanmar) 287 348 318 407 1,360 
			 Burundi 11 3 9 10 33 
			 Cambodia 40 28 35 43 146 
			 Cameroon 455 426 437 590 1,908 
			 Canada 2,235 2,458 2,563 2,964 10,220 
			 Cape Verde 8 8 10 45 71 
			 Cayman Islands — 2 0 1 3 
			 Central African Republic 8 2 6 2 18 
			 Chad 12 7 11 14 44 
			 Chile 220 270 351 430 1,271 
			 China 21,489 18,449 21,408 25,186 86,532 
			 Colombia 2,673 2,782 3,367 4,660 13,482 
			 Comoros 4 5 1 1 11 
			 Congo 90 46 88 70 294 
			 Costa Rica 2 17 24 28 71 
			 Croatia 710 791 193 195 1,889 
			 Cuba 45 46 70 52 213 
			 Cyprus 52 53 20 17 142 
			 Czech Republic 1 1   2 
			 Democratic Rep of Congo 55 62 60 60 237 
			 Denmark — — — 0 0 
			 Djibouti 5 8 9 12 34 
			 Dominica 18 35 28 19 100 
			 Dominican Republic 33 31 43 42 149 
			 Ecuador 445 408 456 440 1749 
			 Egypt 570 536 1,300 1,159 3,565 
			 El Salvador 11 19 14 14 58 
			 Equatorial Guinea 16 10 20 31 77 
			 Eritrea 26 17 19 9 71 
			 Ethiopia 152 156 121 135 564 
			 Fiji 14 16 16 17 63 
			 Gabon 41 30 56 40 167 
			 Gambia 444 449 431 405 1729 
			 Georgia 569 540 655 742 2506 
			 Germany — 0 2 1 3 
			 Ghana 1,829 1,010 1,236 921 4,996 
			 Gibraltar — — — 0 0 
			 Greece — — — 2 2 
			 Grenada 21 40 47 27 135 
			 Guatemala 12 19 20 21 72 
			 Guinea 92 91 68 61 312 
			 Guinea-Bissau 12 10 17 14 53 
			 Guyana 74 87 91 75 327 
			 Haiti 15 13 15 9 52 
			 Honduras 4 10 8 17 39 
			 Hong Kong 2,077 2,058 2,329 2,572 9,036 
			 Hungary 1 1 — 0 2 
			 Iceland — 1 — 1 2 
			 India 17,591 19,891 22,129 23,293 82,904 
			 Indonesia 864 671 694 672 2,901 
			 Iran 1,303 1,654 2,064 2,316 7,337 
			 Iraq 130 255 320 447 1,152 
			 Ireland — 1 0 0 1 
			 Israel 813 1920 663 316 3,712 
			 Italy — — — 1 1 
			 Ivory Coast 213 103 159 131 606 
			 Jamaica 227 224 185 212 848 
			 Japan 8,750 8,559 8,053 6,486 31,848 
			 Jordan 898 904 1,005 974 3,781 
			 Kazakhstan 4,407 5,032 6,365 4,323 20,127 
			 Kenya 1,074 875 985 931 3,865 
			 Kiribati 1 1 1 — 3 
			 Korea (North) 10 6 3 3 22 
			 Kuwait 773 725 893 1,064 3,455 
			 Kyrgyzstan 220 302 382 269 1,173 
			 Laos 10 14 5 2 31 
			 Latvia 1 — — 1 2 
			 Lebanon 414 395 390 330 1,529 
			 Lesotho 10 11 21 10 52 
			 Liberia 8 9 9 13 39 
			 Libya 2,759 3,262 3,590 2,544 12,155 
			 Lithuania 1 — — 1 2 
			 Macau 40 77 90 108 315 
			 Macedonia 135 222 179 211 747 
			 Madagascar 28 28 27 25 108 
			 Malawi 315 501 399 554 1,769 
			 Malaysia 4,784 4,642 4,668 5,473 19,567 
			 Maldives 12 89 89 89 279 
			 Mali 30 15 31 41 117 
			 Mauritania 15 23 32 30 100 
			 Mauritius 1,353 1,552 1,146 907 4,958 
			 Mexico 1,120 1,276 1,344 1,574 5,314 
			 Moldova 209 216 184 115 724 
			 Monaco — 2 3 2 7 
			 Mongolia 185 208 321 931 1,645 
			 Morocco 594 416 439 367 1,816 
			 Mozambique 61 53 34 27 175 
			 Namibia 43 31 45 30 149 
			 Nauru — 0 0 0 0 
			 Nepal 428 621 927 1,095 3,071 
			 Netherlands — — — 1 1 
			 New Zealand 155 155 141 212 663 
			 Nicaragua 5 3 11 9 28 
			 Niger 14 16 19 11 60 
			 Nigeria 8,175 6,958 7,612 8,484 31,229 
			 None 8 8 1 4 21 
			 Norway — — 1 — 1 
			 Oman 1,177 1,023 1,227 1,161 4,588 
			 Pakistan 11,156 9,383 12,209 9,544 42,292 
			 Palestinian Authority 94 80 121 77 372 
			 Panama 7 24 23 35 89 
			 Papua New Guinea 13 11 6 3 33 
			 Paraguay 9 12 19 25 65 
			 Peru 401 405 473 437 1,716 
			 Philippines 1,708 1,272 907 2,050 5,937 
			 Pitcairn Islands — — — 0 0 
			 Poland 2 — 0 0 2 
			 Portugal 0 — — — 0 
			 Qatar 432 532 712 925 2,601 
			 Refugee (Art 1 1951 Convention) 17 12 10 7 46 
			 Romania 855 963 682 2 2,502 
			 Russia 10,338 14,014 22,368 20,947 67,667 
			 Rwanda 50 59 61 74 244 
			 San Marino 1 2 2 2 7 
			 Sao Tome And Principe 25 49 46 5 125 
			 Saudi Arabia 3,349 3,717 4,732 7,535 19,333 
			 Senegal 69 74 124 154 421 
			 Seychelles 1 — 2 2 5 
			 Sierra Leone 234 217 275 192 918 
			 Singapore 1,019 885 1,056 1,006 3,966 
			 Slovakia 2 0 1 — 3 
			 Solomon Islands 5 1 2 2 10 
			 Somalia 15 3 4 4 26 
			 South Africa 451 522 500 473 1946 
			 South Korea 7,447 8,332 7,071 6,577 29,427 
			 Soviet Union — — — 1 1 
			 Spain 1 0 0 — 1 
			 Sri Lanka 1,823 1,930 2,572 2,516 8,841 
			 St. Helena 0 — — — 0 
			 St. Kitts And Nevis 9 12 20 11 52 
			 St. Lucia 55 97 81 62 295 
			 St. Vincent 18 53 62 40 173 
			 Stateless (Art 1 1951 Convention) 59 41 37 28 165 
			 Sudan 585 651 430 398 2064 
			 Surinam 2 6 2 3 13 
			 Swaziland 38 31 18 21 108 
			 Sweden 0 — — 0 0 
			 Switzerland — 0 2 0 2 
			 Syria 668 772 877 615 2,932 
			 Taiwan 9,214 9,575 9,415 6,647 34,851 
			 Tajikistan 53 100 91 66 310 
			 Tanzania 786 932 1,100 926 3,744 
			 Thailand 4,875 5,095 5,042 4,325 19,337 
			 Togo 36 14 31 20 101 
			 Tonga — 6 3 5 14 
			 Trinidad And Tobago 381 439 468 483 1,771 
			 Tunisia 125 144 272 472 1,013 
			 Turkey 4,599 8,052 9,003 7,881 29,535 
			 Turkmenistan 290 432 203 171 1,096 
			 Turks And Caicos Islands — — — 1 1 
			 Tuvalu 0 1 — 0 1 
			 Uganda 859 592 527 566 2544 
			 Ukraine 1,678 1,370 1,717 1,738 6,503 
			 United Arab Emirates 1,310 1,080 1,120 1,270 4,780 
			 United Nations 4 2 2 11 19 
			 United States 8,815 8,950 9,258 11,800 38,823 
			 Unknown 97 117 116 89 419 
			 Unspecified Nationality 183 142 130 255 710 
			 Uruguay 13 17 22 27 79 
			 Uzbekistan 414 830 1359 865 3,468 
			 Vanuatu 1 — — 0 1 
			 Venezuela 125 378 519 785 1,807 
			 Vietnam 1,401 1,437 1,575 1,941 6,354 
			 Western Samoa 2 3 0 1 6 
			 Yemen 321 275 303 285 1,184 
			 Yugoslavia 1,510 1,460 1,149 1,112 5,231 
			 Zambia 512 474 456 571 2,013 
			 Zimbabwe 784 741 459 372 2,356 
			 Grand total 186,076 197,841 219,786 221,266 824,969 
			  Notes: 1. Data for FY 2003-04 is taken from published Entry Clearance Statistics 2. Data for April 2004 - March 2008 was taken from the Central Reference System on 2 July 2008 3.This data is provisional and unpublished and should be treated as such

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate she has made of the  (a) number and  (b) average age on entry of gap year students entering the United Kingdom to work in the education sector.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 7 July 2008
	 Since 2005 the "Gap Year Entrant for Work in Schools" entry category has been in operation as a concessionary arrangement outside the immigration rules. It allows overseas students age 17-19 to take employment in a teaching/teaching assistant capacity in schools in the UK for 12 months prior to commencing their degree level studies overseas. The total number of visas issued in this category are as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2005 794 
			 2006 807 
			 2007 803 
		
	
	While estimated future demand for visas is confined to broader entry categories (e.g. visitors, students, employment, settlement), the demand for gap year work visas has clearly been steady around 800 per year.
	It should be noted that some gap year students also enter under the Working Holiday Scheme for young Commonwealth citizens, and under the concession for voluntary workers outside the immigration rules. However, no data is available for these entrants as it is not possible to distinguish them from others entering in these categories.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many students participating in the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme did not return to their country of origin at the end of their placement under the scheme in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: Since the phasing out of border controls in 1994, no government has ever been able to produce an accurate figure for the number of people who are in the country illegally and that includes students participating in the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme who subsequently failed to return to their country of origin at the end of their placement. By its very nature it is impossible to quantify accurately and that remains the case.
	As part of the Government's 10-point plan for delivery, by Christmas 2008 the majority of foreign nationals will be counted in and out of the country. This will build on the successes of our early testing of the e-Borders programme (Project Semaphore) which already covers over 30 million passenger movements and has led to 18,000 alerts and more than 1,500 arrests.
	This is part of a sweeping programme of border protection which also includes the global roll-out of fingerprint visas, compulsory watch-list checks for all travellers from high-risk countries before they land in Britain and ID cards for foreign nationals.
	On 19 June 2008, the Government set out their plan to more robustly enforce the immigration rules by developing and strengthening partnerships with the police, local authorities and enforcement agencies to shut down the privileges of the UK to those breaking the rules. Copies of the document are placed in the Library of the House. It is also available to view at:
	http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/?requestType=form& view=Search+results&simpleOrAdvanced=simple&page=1& contentType=AII&searchTerm=enforcing+the+deal&Submit=Go

Food

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department from which five countries of origin the greatest amount of food was procured by her Department in the last year for which figures are available; and what the  (a) cost and  (b) quantity procured was in each case.

Liam Byrne: The Home Department inclusive of its agencies does not contract directly for food supplies but procures catering services through wider facilities management (FM) or operational service contractors. To obtain this information would incur disproportionate costs.
	When placing a contract with FM or operational services contractors sustainability factors are taken into consideration and specifications incorporate sustainability targets and appropriate terms and conditions with regards to the procurement of food.

Immigration Controls: France

Quentin Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has given consideration to collaborating with the French Government in establishing and training a combined border and immigration force to be deployed at Brussels Midi, Paris Gare du Nord and London St Pancras International stations capable of checking passengers according to the criteria of both governments, on a one-stop basis; and if she will estimate the financial effect of such an arrangement.

Liam Byrne: The UK Border Agency works closely with French and Belgian authorities to promote mutual border security through the very effective border control arrangements at the juxtaposed controls. We have no plans to establish a body along the lines suggested. It is therefore not possible for us to provide an estimate of the financial effect of such an arrangement. This could be discovered only through the detailed examination of both the UK and France's existing arrangements, which would involve a disproportionate cost to the business.

Immigration: Criminal Records

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many criminal record checks were carried out on  (a) EU foreign nationals and  (b) non-EU foreign nationals seeking to enter the UK in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many criminal record checks were carried out on  (a) EU foreign nationals and  (b) non-EU foreign nationals seeking to enter Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: From 1 July 2007, the UK Border Agency introduced the Home Office Warnings Index (HOWI) checking policy. This policy requires 100 per cent. checking of all documents against the HOWI. The HOWI comprises a watchlist of adverse information and intelligence drawn from various sources, including the police. The system is used by UK Border Agency staff for the purposes of national security and the detection and prevention of crime. It is long-standing policy not to discuss either the specific data held on the watchlist or the source of the data as to do so would be counter-productive.
	When UK Border Agency staff require a passenger to submit to further examination, part of the officers' inquiries may include checking the passenger's details against the Police National Computer (PNC). For example, where there is evidence to suggest that the individual has previously committed a criminal offence or where there is evidence to suggest that the individual is currently engaged—or is likely to be engaged—in criminal activity.

Offenders: Deportation

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what circumstances EU citizens who have been deported may be prohibited from returning to the UK for a set period; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 26 June 2008
	A deportation order requires the subject to leave the United Kingdom and prohibits re-entry to the UK unless or until it is revoked.

Official Visits

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of her visit to the United States in February 2008 was.

Liam Byrne: Since 1999, the Government have published a list of all overseas travel by Cabinet Ministers costing over £500. Information for the last financial year was published on 25 July 2007,  Official Report, column 1112W. Details for the current financial year are being complied and will be published as soon as possible. The list for 2007-08 will include details of overseas visits undertaken by all Ministers. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the "Ministerial Code".

Ports: Medical Examinations

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were refused entry into the United Kingdom on the advice of port medical inspectors in each year since 1997.

Liam Byrne: A port medical inspector's opinion could be one of a range of factors that influences an immigration officer's decision to grant or refuse entry to the UK.
	The UK Border Agency does not collect statistics on the numbers of passengers who are refused leave to enter as a result of the advice of port medical inspectors.

City Region Funding

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding public transport in city regions outside the comprehensive spending review framework.

Rosie Winterton: All of the Department's regular discussions with Her Majesty's Treasury take place in the context of decisions made in the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Driving Instructors

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent steps she has taken to protect learner drivers from sexual assault by driving instructors.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Prospective Approved Driving Instructors (ADIs) must provide enhanced level criminal record checks. Existing ADIs must undergo such checks when re-registering.
	Driving Instructor has Notifiable Occupation Status, so the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) is informed of convictions.
	DSA is seeking a suitable parliamentary Bill to allow for the suspension of ADIs.

London/South Wales Main Line

Alun Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will hold discussions with Network Rail to persuade it to speed up its work on the main line between London and South Wales.

Tom Harris: The Government are investing heavily in the Great Western Main Line, securing new trains and spending over £500 million on new platforms and lines to eliminate the bottleneck at Reading. The work does, though, have to be undertaken on a live railway in order to minimise inconvenience to passengers. This influences the pace at which work can proceed.

Concessionary Fares

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the national bus concessionary fares scheme.

Rosie Winterton: The Department conducted cost benefit assessments of both recent extensions to the statutory concessionary fares scheme. These acknowledged that significant benefits, such as improved social inclusion, cannot be easily quantified. However, both assessments concluded that the investments could offer value for money even before taking account of the non-moniterised benefits.

Train Overcrowding

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what her latest estimate is of levels of overcrowding on trains; and if she will make a statement.

Tom Harris: Figures from the Office of Rail Regulation show that passenger numbers grew by 7.8 per cent. over the year to December 2007. The Rail White Paper, which we published in July 2007, described how the Government intend to work with the industry to ensure that the network can cater for that growth. At the heart of our plans is the £10 billion that we have committed to spend on enhancing rail capacity between 2009 and 2014.

Airport Security

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans she has to improve security at airports.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The measures in the National Aviation Security Programme exist to safeguard passengers from terrorism. They need to be effective and proportionate to the evolving threat and to minimise burdens on passengers and the industry.
	We keep these measures under constant review, in close co-operation with the industry. Lord West's review last year broadly supported the direction of travel and the pace of the work we had in hand in this, as in other areas of transport security.
	We have however set in train two important initiatives. One is the planned Transport Security Bill. This will allow us to place airport security planning and policing on a necessary legislative footing and further strengthen the functioning of the overall security regime at airports.
	We have also commissioned an independent review into the current arrangements for personnel security in respect of applicants and existing staff in the transport industry, which includes aviation. This will report soon.

South Yorkshire Rail Services

Eric Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of rail services in South Yorkshire.

Tom Harris: Network Rail is responsible for determining the level of rail services required over the forthcoming 10-year period using its route utilisation strategy (RUS) process. The Yorkshire and Humberside RUS is currently under development and will identify changes to rail services that may be required in South Yorkshire over that period. The Department has however, already procured a new service from Leeds to Nottingham, calling at Sheffield and Barnsley, to operate from December 2008.

Cycling

Dari Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding her Department has provided to  (a) local authorities and  (b) others to support the provision of training for cyclists in the last three years.

Rosie Winterton: To date, we have made around £4.3 million available to local authorities to fund Bikeability, the new national standard for cycle training. This includes £150,000 to pilot the new standard in 2006-07, £1.2 million in 2007-08 and £3.1 million this financial year. In addition, we have made around £1.5 million available to the School Sports Partnerships to increase Bikeability training in schools over the same period. We will also be providing funding amounting to around £400,000 to enable British cycling coaches to deliver Bikeability training this year.
	We have also invested around £1 million between 2005-06 and 2007-08 via a grant to Cycling Tourist Club to build capacity in the cycle training sector.

Cycling

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent progress her Department has made on encouraging more people to cycle in towns and cities.

Rosie Winterton: We announced on 19 June a package of almost £100 million to support 12 new Cycling Demonstration Towns including the first large Demonstration City of Bristol. Half of this funding is coming from the local authorities themselves which is an encouraging demonstration of the level of support for cycling. They have joined the existing six, so there is now a demonstration place in every region, which will assist in the sharing of experience in increasing cycling levels through events such as regional workshops.

Departmental Food

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was spent by her Department on  (a) food and  (b) food of British origin in each of the last five years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The amount spent on food, where recorded, for the last five financial years is tabled as follows:
	
		
			   Total spend (£) 
			 2003-04(1) 189,144 
			 2004-05(1) 177,029 
			 2005-06(2) 791,000 
			 2006-07(3) 883,546 
			 2007-08(2) 789,864 
			 (1) Aggregate spend at: Air Accidents Investigation Branch, Driving Standards Agency and Maritime and Coastguard Agency.  (2) Aggregate spend at: Department for Transport London headquarters buildings, Air Accidents Investigation Branch, Rail Accident Investigation Branch, Driving Standards Agency, Government Car and Despatch Agency and Maritime and Coastguard Agency.  (3) Aggregate spend at: Department for Transport London headquarters buildings, Air Accidents Investigation Branch, Rail Accident Investigation Branch, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, Driving Standards Agency, Government Car and Despatch Agency and Maritime and Coastguard Agency. 
		
	
	Changes to local recording arrangements mean that data are not consistently available for all years requested, as noted in the table.
	At departmental level 48.5 per cent. of spend on food is estimated to be of British origin and 70 per cent. of food expenditure at our main London headquarters building is estimated to be of British origin.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps her Department takes to ensure registered car owners pay vehicle excise duty.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) operates a comprehensive package of measures to ensure that vehicle excise duty is convenient to pay but very hard to avoid.
	There is a variety of ways to license your vehicle, with online and telephone services now being used by a large and growing number of vehicle keepers. Those who fail to license their vehicles are subject to enforcement measures ranging from automated penalties from the vehicle record, through to direct enforcement action such as the wheel clamping, impounding and, ultimately, disposal of the unlicensed vehicle.
	The most recent statistics estimate that DVLA was successful in collecting 98.5 per cent. of all vehicle excise duty payable in 2007-08, demonstrating that this approach is proving effective.

Motor Vehicles: Testing

Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many heavy goods vehicle or public service vehicle operators  (a) have and  (b) do not have the necessary facilities to carry out MOT tests.

Jim Fitzpatrick: A number of organisations have sought approval for facilities which can be used to carry out public service vehicle (PSV) and heavy goods vehicle (HGV) annual tests. The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) has authorised around 210 such facilities. Tests at these sites are carried out by civil servants from VOSA and the network includes sites that cater for both HGV and PSV annual tests or either type individually. These authorised premises are owned by either operators or commercial organisations carrying out maintenance and some organisations will have more than one facility that is authorised to carry out tests.
	VOSA does not hold data on how many operators may have the appropriate facilities to conduct HGV and/or PSV annual tests but have not sought authorisation, however tests can be carried out only at sites which have been authorised.

Transport: Consultants

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what allocation  (a) her Department and  (b) the Highways Agency has made for consultancy fees in relation to (i) roads, (ii) railways and (iii) other matters in its budget for 2008-09.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport, including agencies other than Highways, have made budget allocations for expenditure on consultancy and professional services in 2008-09 as follows:
	
		
			   £000 
			 Roads 16,335 
			 Railways 16,260 
			 Other Matters 23,894 
		
	
	'Roads' includes road pricing and road vehicle safety and standards. 'Railways' includes Crossrail, LCR, Metronet and various aspects of the railways industry. 'Other Matters' includes all the transport Executive agencies, except Highways Agency, together with the shared services project and other organisational consultancies.
	The Highways Agency has no specific allocation within its budget for consultancy fees, but anticipates spending £2,000,000 during 2008-09 on administrative consultancies.

Transport: Voluntary Organisations

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans she has to enable community transport groups to extend the services that they offer.

Rosie Winterton: The Local Transport Bill, currently awaiting Report stage, contains provisions that would create opportunities for community transport groups to extend their services, by allowing greater flexibility over the size of vehicle used, and removing the restriction on paying drivers on community bus services.

Annual Leave

Lynne Jones: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many years' service with the House is required for officers of the House to receive 40 days' paid leave; and how many people received  (a) 40 days,  (b) 35 to 39 days,  (c) 30 to 34 and  (d) 28 days' paid leave pro rata in the latest period for which figures are available.

Nick Harvey: Leave entitlements for staff of the House are set out in the Staff Handbook, which is available on the parliamentary intranet. In summary, most staff receive 28 days' paid leave per annum on appointment, rising to 40 days after 11 years service. Staff appointed to the senior commons structure (SCS) receive 40 days' annual leave on appointment. For the current leave year (1 November 2007 to 31 October 2008), the leave entitlements for individual staff in post on 1 November 2007, including part-timers, are set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Leave due (pro-rata for part-time staff)  Officers of the House (staff at SCS and pay band A)  Other pay bands  Total individuals 
			 40 days 179 484 663 
			 35-39 60 313 373 
			 30-34 70 441 511 
			 28 42 356 398 
			 Total 351 1,594 (1)1,945 
			 (1) This figure includes all part-time and casual staff—the number of permanent full-time equivalent staff at 1 November 2007 was 1,707.

Security

Francis Maude: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many parliamentary identity cards or passes have been reported lost or stolen in the last 24 months.

Nick Harvey: The numbers of parliamentary photo-identity passes that have been reported stolen to the police over the past 24 months is 31.
	Exact figures for the number lost over the same period are not available but over the past nine years a total of 313 passes have been reported lost.

Olympic Games 2012: Northern Ireland

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how many firms based in Northern Ireland have made unsuccessful bids for contracts through the Olympic Delivery Authority.

Tessa Jowell: To date, five businesses registered in Northern Ireland have responded to Invitations to Tender for Olympic Delivery Authority contracts above the  Official Journal of the European Union threshold (according to EU legislation, all contracts from the public sector which are valued above a certain threshold must be published in the  Official Journal of the European Union). Of these, three businesses have not been awarded contracts, and two are currently involved in live tenders.
	For contracts below the OJEU threshold, six Northern Ireland businesses are at the Invitation to Tender stage in live procurements.
	The London 2012 Business Network has been developed to open up opportunities in the London 2012 supply chains to businesses across the UK. Businesses in every constituency should be encouraged to sign up and get the support they need to compete for and win London 2012 related business.

Digital Broadcasting

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what evidence was submitted to his Department to inform the Digital Working Group interim report published in June 2008.

Andy Burnham: None. The Digital Radio Working Group is an independent body which sought and took account of a wide range of information developing its interim report. I look forward to their final report by the end of the year.

Digital Broadcasting

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of  (a) the DAB+ system,  (b) the DMB system and  (c) the DVB-H system of digital radio transmission.

Andy Burnham: holding answer 7 July 2008
	As part of its remit, the independent Digital Radio Working Group we have established has considered these and other technologies.
	The Group's interim report, published on 23 June, concluded that DAB is the most practical route to digital migration in the UK, but that the aim should be for all future radio receivers to be capable of receiving analogue, DAB and other variants of the Eureka 147 family. I look forward to the final report towards the end of the year.

Digital Broadcasting

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations he has made at EU level on harmonisation in digital radio technology.

Andy Burnham: I have made no such representations. However, my officials have discussed the need for harmonised digital technology informally with the Commission and member states. We have recently raised the issue in the EU Communications Committee Broadcasting Issues Sub Group and BERR and Ofcom have jointly written to WorldDMB, the organisation responsible for co-ordinating the implementation of Eureka 147 technologies, who have agreed to take forward the question of harmonised receiver profiles. This is in line with the interim recommendations of the Digital Radio Working Group.

Sports: Handguns

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport under what circumstances people can practise in the UK for international pistol tournaments; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Firearms (Amendments) Act 1997 prohibited the possession of handguns in England and Wales, and Scotland without the specific authority of the Home Secretary or the Scottish Ministers. It does not prohibit the possession of handguns in Northern Ireland.
	The Home Secretary has agreed to use her powers under section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968 to allow a small squad of elite GB Olympic pistol shooters to train in this county ahead of the Olympics in 2012. Scottish Ministers have agreed, in principle, to exercise their powers in a similar manner in relation to Scotland. In Northern Ireland, pistol shooters are free to practise their sport, provided that they have the appropriate firearm certificate from the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
	The Home Secretary will also use her powers under section 5 to ensure arrangements are in place to allow competitors and officials at the Olympic games in London in 2012 to possess their special competition pistols for the duration of the games and for any special warm up events.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost of British military engagement in  (a) Afghanistan and  (b) Iraq was in (i) 2005-06, (ii) 2006-07 and (iii) 2007-08;

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost to his Department of operations in  (a) Iraq and  (b) Afghanistan was in each year since 2001.

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the additional expenditure from the Defence Budget required for military operations and equipment in  (a) Iraq and  (b) Afghanistan in each year from 2001-02 to 2008-09 which was additional to original allocations under those headings; how much has been allocated from the contingency reserve to fund such expenditure in each of those years; and if he will make a statement.

Des Browne: The MOD does not make provision for the net additional cost of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan—this is recovered from the Treasury Reserve. Between 2001-02 and 2006-07 the costs for these operations were:
	
		
			  Iraq 
			  £ million 
			   2001-02  2002-03  2003-44  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  Total 
			 Operations in Iraq — 629 1,051 747 798 787 4,012 
			 Expenditure on capital equipment — 218 260 163 160 169 970 
			 Total — 847 1,311 910 958 956 4,982 
		
	
	
		
			  Afghanistan 
			  £ million 
			   2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  Total 
			 Operations in Afghanistan (near cash) 187 236 36 58 148 560 1,225 
			 Expenditure on capital equipment 34 75 10 9 51 178 357 
			 Total 221 311 46 67 199 738 1,582 
		
	
	We have requested a total of an additional £3,374 million from the Treasury Reserve in Winter and Spring Supplementary Estimates, to cover the net additional costs of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2007-08.
	Audited outturn figures will be published in the MOD's Annual Report and Accounts towards the end of July.
	My right hon. Friend the Chancellor announced in his Budget speech that the estimated cost of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan will be at least £2 billion in 2008-09.

Armed Forces: Council Tax Benefit

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent on council tax rebate for service personnel during the last six month roulement.

Derek Twigg: The amount spent on council tax rebate claims for the two major roulements, Iraq and Afghanistan, completed during the last six months, was £87,599.

Armed Forces: Social Security Benefits

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what guidance is given to family liaison officers on provision of advice to service families on their benefit entitlements; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: The payment of benefits remains a matter for the responsible Government Department or local authority, most often Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs or the Department for Work and Pensions. There are detailed rules covering eligibility for benefits and advice on them is best provided by the relevant Departments, authorities and their agencies. The Ministry of Defence works with these responsible bodies to ensure that their websites and guidance take into account the specific circumstances of Service personnel and their families.
	Welfare support staff are instructed to refer families with specific queries, including benefits questions, to the most appropriate organisation to respond. This guidance given via specialist Ministry of Defence support staff and websites (such as the Service Community area of the Ministry of Defence website) is given to address certain aspects of benefits entitlement that are affected by Service life, such as moves overseas, although detailed advice should always be sought from the relevant department or agency. The Ministry of Defence also provides a worldwide information service (HIVE) which provides key information and signposting on the full range of Service community issues, including benefits.

Armed Forces: Training

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 13 May 2008,  Official Report, column 1519W, on armed forces training, whether further Fighting in Built-Up Areas training facilities other than those listed are  (a) under construction and  (b) planned.

Bob Ainsworth: There are facilities under construction on Salisbury Plain related to fighting in built up areas (FIBUA) which will enhance the training facility.
	Additional FIBUAs are planned for Stanford training area in Norfolk and Sennelager training area in Germany both of which are at the planning application stage. The latter is also currently at the environmental appraisal stage.

Armed Forces: Training

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 13 May 2008,  Official Report, column 1519W, on armed forces training, in what year each of the Fighting in Built-Up Areas training facilities was constructed.

Bob Ainsworth: The following table provides the year each fighting in built up areas (FIBUA) was either constructed or adopted as a FIBUA training facility:
	
		
			  Name  Location  County  Year of build 
			 Edingham FIBUA Site Dalbeattie Dumfries 1940 
			 Caerwent Chepstow Glamorgan 1940 
			 Eastmere Village Stanford TA Norfolk 1982 
			 Copehill Down Salisbury Plain Wiltshire 1989 
			 Cilieni Village Sennybridge Powys 1991 
			 Rype Village Lydd Kent Ex Married Quarters, adopted in 1964 
			 Whinney Hill Catterick North Yorkshire Ex Married Quarters, adopted mid 1980's 
			 Longmoor Urban Training Complex Longmoor Hampshire Ex Married Quarters, adopted mid 1980's

Armed Forces: Vehicles

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of  (a) armoured vehicles,  (b) other vehicles,  (c) fixed wing aircraft,  (d) rotary wing aircraft,  (e) weapons systems and  (f) unmanned aerial vehicles of each type were (i) in service, (ii) fit for purpose and (iii) out of service at the latest date for which figures are available.

Bob Ainsworth: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the  (a) fewest,  (b) most and  (c) mean number of days taken to up-armour each Cougar vehicle to a finished Mastiff was in Mastiff tranche one after arrival in the UK; and what the (i) fewest, (ii) most and (iii) mean number of days taken between completion of up-armouring and arrival at UK port of embarkation was.

Bob Ainsworth: The average time to upgrade the Cougar vehicle to a Mastiff for tranche one (including the up-armouring) was seven days. It is not possible to break-out the time spent specifically on up-armouring, as this work was conducted at the same time as other elements of the upgrade.
	Once vehicles had been upgraded they were moved to the UK embarkation point within 24 hours.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles: Sales

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what control his Department has over who the ultimate owners are of armoured personnel carriers being sold by his Department to Witham Specialist Vehicles Ltd;
	(2)  how many decommissioned armoured personnel carriers have been sold abroad in each year since 2006;
	(3)  how many Saxon armoured personnel carriers have been sold by his Department to Witham Specialist Vehicles Ltd.

Bob Ainsworth: The Department does not sell armoured personnel carriers to Witham (Specialist Vehicles) Ltd. The company acts as the selling agent for surplus MOD vehicles under the terms of an incentive based contract. The receipts from sale are shared in an agreed proportion between the company and the Department.
	All surplus equipment sold into the commercial marketplace is demilitarised and declassified. In that event, when vehicles are purchased from Witham to be exported outside the United Kingdom, purchasers are obliged to comply with normal UK export license regulations. The Department has no control over the ultimate owner of the vehicles.
	Between 1 January 2006 and 3 July 2008, 44 Saxon vehicles were sold on behalf of the Department. The Department does not hold information about which of those vehicles purchased to date remain within the United Kingdom and which have been exported.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles: Sales

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons his Department is selling armoured personnel carriers.

Bob Ainsworth: Saxon General War Role (Saxon GWR) is being removed from service, and sold because it no longer meets the requirements of the Army, and has been declared obsolete.

Defence Export Services Organisation

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many foreign military delegations visited the Defence Export Services Organisation between  (a) 1 August 2005 and 31 July 2006 and  (b) 1 August 2006 and 31 July 2007; and how many such delegations have visited UK Trade and Investment since 1 August 2007.

Gareth Thomas: I have been asked to reply.
	From 1 August 2005 and 31 July 2006, 194 foreign delegations visited the Defence Export Services Organisation (DESO) to attend two major defence exhibitions, one in September 2005 and one in July 2006, and two Multi Nation Inward Missions (MNIM), which enable potential foreign customers to witness demonstrations of defence equipment and visit UK defence establishments. Most delegations will have included military personnel. From 1 August 2006 and 31 July 2007, 18 foreign delegations visited DESO on MNIM. There was no major defence exhibition during that time.
	Since 1 August 2007, 74 foreign delegations have visited DESO and its successor organisation (from 1 April 2008), UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation (UKTI DSO).
	Information on other visits to DESO and UKTI DSO, taken from available records, is shown as follows:
	
		
			   Number of countries 
			 1 August 2005-31 July 2006 85 
			 1 August 2006-31 July 2007 68 
			 Since 1 August 2007 40

Military Aircraft: Helicopters

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many  (a) Agusta 109A,  (b) Agusta 109AM,  (c) Apache Ah Mk1,  (d) Gazelle AH1,  (e) Lynx Mk7,  (f) Lynx Mk9,  (g) Lynx Mk3,  (h) Lynx Mk8,  (i) Merlin Mk1,  (j) Sea King Mk4,  (k) Sea King Mk5,  (l) Sea King Mk6 (CR),  (m) Sea King Mk7,  (n) Chinook Mk2,  (o) Chinook Mk2a,  (p) Merlin Mk3,  (q) Puma HC1,  (r) Sea King Mk3 and  (s) Sea King Mk3a there are in the helicopter fleet.

Bob Ainsworth: The numbers and types of helicopters currently in the helicopter fleet are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Helicopter type  Number 
			 Agusta 109 4 
			 Apache AH Mk1 67 
			 Gazelle AH1 55 
			 Lynx Mk 7/9 96 
			 Lynx Mk 3/8 63 
			 Merlin Mk1 42 
			 Sea King Mk4/6C 42 
			 Sea King Mk 5 15 
			 Sea King Mk 7 13 
			 Chinook Mk2/2a 40 
			 Merlin Mk3 22 
			 Puma HC1 38 
			 Sea King Mk3/3a 25 
		
	
	The helicopter fleet has been taken to mean all aircraft in the Forward Fleet (at Front Line Commands for operational use and training) plus the Depth Fleet (including aircraft undergoing major maintenance, repair, modifications and trials). It excludes aircraft declared surplus currently awaiting disposal.

Unmanned Air Vehicles: Procurement

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration he gave to purchasing off-the-shelf alternatives before commissioning the Watchkeeper unmanned aerial vehicle.

Bob Ainsworth: Off-the-shelf alternatives were assessed during the Watchkeeper programme competition and system selection process but they did not meet the capability requirements and were therefore discounted.

Unmanned Air Vehicles: Procurement

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons his Department procured the Watchkeeper unmanned aerial vehicle; what consideration was given to procuring off-the-shelf alternatives; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: Watchkeeper was procured to provide operational commanders with a day/night, all weather capability to detect and track targets without the need to deploy troops into potentially sensitive or dangerous areas. Off-the-shelf alternatives were assessed at the time of competition but did not meet the capability requirements and were therefore discounted.

Agriculture: Young People

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 13 June 2008,  Official Report, column 531W, on agriculture: young people, for what reason no further commitments of funding have been made; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 1 July 2008
	I responded to a written answer on 13 June 22008,  Official Report, column 531W, to the hon. Member for Forest of Dean (Mr. Harper), on agriculture. I have since been advised that, in addition to the periods and amounts previously stated, funding of £51,500 for the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs has been committed for the period 2008-09.
	Funding for the National Federation of Young Farmers is allocated on a yearly basis.

Animals: Disease Control

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to offer direct support to farmers able to prove that they have good on-farm biosecurity.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Government are currently running the 'Give Disease the Boot' campaign, which provides livestock owners and veterinarians with information on a range of diseases and how best to protect the health of their animals and the health of the farming industry.
	DEFRA has produced information promoting the need for vigilance, and providing guidance about how to spot disease and prevent its introduction and spread. This is available on the DEFRA website.
	Leaflets offering biosecurity advice to animal keepers are being distributed by DEFRA at the Livestock Markets Roadshow, which is touring 80 towns in England during 2008. Key messages promoting biosecurity and vigilance are also featured in publications such as Farming Link.
	During exotic disease outbreaks, tighter biosecurity requirements apply, and rules are notified to the people affected by them.

Arable Farming

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the financial position of arable crop farming in the East of England.

Jonathan R Shaw: Data on farm business incomes are provided by the annual Farm Business Survey. For non-corporate businesses, farm business income represents the financial return to all unpaid labour (farmers and spouses, non-principal partners and their spouses and family workers) and on all their capital invested in the farm business, including land and buildings. For corporate businesses, it represents the financial return on the shareholders' capital invested in the farm business.
	Average farm business income for cereals and general cropping farms was estimated at £78,000 and £74,000 respectively in the East of England Government office region in 2006-07 (i.e. for 2006 harvest), compared to £66,000 for all farm types in the same region. For England as a whole, average farm business income for cereals and general cropping farms was estimated at £56,000 and £66,000 respectively in 2006-07, compared to £38,000 for all farm types.
	Comparisons of these figures with previous years are set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Average farm business income 
			  £ per farm 
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			  East of England Government office region 
			 Cereals 80,923 47,806 48,864 78,019 
			 General cropping 90,101 72,936 48,570 74,450 
			 All farm types 67,141 51,439 51,240 66,105 
			  
			  England 
			 Cereals 53,131 35,256 32,905 56,277 
			 General cropping 65,872 46,229 37,346 65,788 
			 All farm types 38,590 30,205 30,915 37,839 
		
	
	In 2007-08 (2007 harvest), incomes on cereals and general cropping farms are expected to have increased quite markedly, particularly on cereal farms. At the England level, income on cereal farms is expected to have risen by 45 per cent. and on general cropping farms by 27 per cent. These increases are due primarily to higher output prices compared to 2006 harvest.

Cooperative Wholesale Society: Leicestershire

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what dates meetings have taken place between Ministers and officials from his Department and representatives of the Co-operative Wholesale Society since 1 May 2005 on the development of the Co-operative Wholesale Society's land within Harborough District; where each meeting took place; and who attended each.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 7 July 2008
	 We have no record of meetings between DEFRA Ministers or officials with representatives of the Co-operative Wholesale Society since 1 May 2005 about the development of its land within Harborough district.

Deca-BDE

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what representations his Department has received on the use of Deca-BDE from  (a) the Bromine Science and Environmental Forum,  (b) Albemarle Corporation,  (c) Chemtura,  (d) ISDL,  (e) Tosoh Corporation,  (f) the European Flame Retardants Association and  (g) the European Chemical Industry Council;
	(2)  whether his Department has undertaken studies of environmentally friendly flame-retardants which do not include Deca-BDE.

Phil Woolas: Decabromodiphenyl ether (deca-BDE) is a flame retardant used primarily in plastics and textiles applications. Over an extended period it has been subject to Risk Assessment action under the EU Existing Substances Regulation; the UK (the Environment Agency) was the rapporteur for the environmental elements of the risk assessment and France was the rapporteur for the human health aspects. As rapporteur the UK has received representations from a wide range of interested parties, including individual companies, industry associations, and NGOs. Contact was also necessary to gather the information needed to carry out the risk assessment.
	The conclusion of the risk assessment is that while deca-BDE is very persistent in the environment, it is not on present evidence bioaccumulative, and it is not toxic. As a result it does not meet the criteria for formal risk reduction activity under the Existing Substances Regulation. However, because of its persistence and widespread presence in the environment the manufacturing industry, with encouragement from the Government, has instigated a voluntary initiative known as the Voluntary Emissions Control and reduction Action Programme (VECAP). New codes of good practice for sustainable use of deca-BDE in the plastics and textile industries have been issued by the manufacturing industry. The aim of the codes of practice is to ensure improved control of emissions.
	A number of other flame retardants have also been evaluated under the Existing Substances Regulation. In addition, in 2003 the Environment Agency commissioned a report on the Prioritisation of Flame Retardants for Environmental Risk Assessment. The aim of the study was to assess the use of and risks associated with flame retardants, in particular to identify substances that might require detailed consideration in terms of their possible impact on the environment. It also considered issues concerning substitution of flame retardants. The study noted that little was known about the effects of many of the substances, including those sometimes proposed for use as substitutes.

Departmental Buildings

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on which buildings occupied by his Department's agencies and non-departmental public bodies the lease will be due for renewal in the next four years.

Jonathan R Shaw: The leases held by DEFRA and the principle associated public bodies that are due for renewal in the next four years are set out in the following schedule.
	
		
			  Property number  Site name 
			  DEFRA  
			 68 Newlyn—North Pier—Store 6 
			 84 Nympsfield Badger Research Unit 
			 96 Lowestoft—North Quay—Ground Lease 
			 108 Brixham New Fish Quay—Store 6 
			 114 Amble—Warkworth Harbour—Commissioners Offices 
			 122 Nottingham—Chalfont Drive—Block7 
			 124 Preston—Government Buildings—Cop Lane 
			 125 Shrewsbury—Whitehall—Monkmoor Road 
			 127 Wolverhampton—Woodthorne 
			 147 Lewes—Medwyn House 
			 164 Huntingdon—Chequers Court 
			 167 Kirton—Middlecott House 
			 182 Leeds—Government Buildgs—Otley Road—Wings 1-7—11 and 14 
			 189 Skipton Foundry House 
			 218 Bristol—Bristol Fruit Centre 
			 231 Leyton—14/19 Allen House 
			 262 Hartlepool—103 Northgate 
			 264 Scarborough—West Pier—19 
			 264 Scarborough—West Pier—20 
			 264 Scarborough—West Pier—Baiting Shed 28 
			 275 Ashford—Olantigh Road—Wye 
			 504 Hastings Rock A Nore Road 
			 507 Northallerton Standard Way Unit 3 
			 515 Dover Eastern Docks Freight Services Building 
			 517 Bakewell—Lumford Mill 10-13 
			 517 Bakewell—Lumford Mill—Offices 14/15 
			 520 Plymouth Fisheries Office 
			 529 Northampton Beaumont House 
			 532 Coventry Copthall House 
			 537 Tilbury St. Andrew's House 
			 543 Cardiff—Llanishen 
			 547 Llandrindod Wells 
			 554 Portsmouth Continental Ferry Port Porta Cabin 
			 554 Portsmouth Continental Ferry Port Porta Cabin 
			 556 Grimsby Estuary House 
			 567 Chichester City Business Centre 
			 573 Ashford Epps Building 
			 581 Maidstone—6-8 Albion Place—2nd Flr 
			 583 Northallerton—Unit 2 Standard Way 
			 584 Taunton—Riverside Chambers—2nd Flr 
			 589 Gloucester—Nympsfield Rd 
			 589 Gloucester—Nympsfield Rd 
			 590 Harwich—Hamilton House 
			 594 Penryn—The Seaways—Commercial Rd 
			 595 Plymouth—Millbay Docks—Ground Lease 
			 598 Carlisle—Watchtree—FMD site Bore hole 
			 644 Reading—Paddock Rd—Unit 4D 
			 662 Morecambe—Heysham—Portakabin 
			 667 Dover—Waterloo Crescent—1st Flr 
			 673 North Shields—Fish Quay—Unit 2 
			 674 Scarborough—West Pier—Baiting Shed 24 
			 675 Banbury—The Old Academy 
			 685 France—Coquelles Calais 
			 693 Stoneleigh Park—Old Childrens Farm—Unit 9 Block 83 
			 694 Uxbridge—Market Centre—Units 1C and 9A 
			 696 Stafford—Building 14—RAF 
			 698 Ledbury—Bronsil House 
			 699 Wakefield—Northgate-Bullring House 
			 701 Peterborough—Ham Lane House 
			 704 Peterborough—Northminster House 
			 705 Wigan—Pier House—1st Flr 
			 705 Wigan—Pier House—Gnd Flr—Mtg Rm 
			 705 Wigan—Pier House—Gnd Flr—Frnt Suite 
			 705 Wigan—Pier House—Gnd Flr Store 
			 707 Lyndhurst—1 Southampton Rd 
			 717 Lewes—Phoenix House-Office B 
			 739 Peterborough—Harvester Way—Unit 22 
			 742 Exeter—Renslade House—Level 2 
			 743 Newcastle—The Quadrant-Unit 7 
			 749 Penzance—Boswednan—Barn C 
			 751 Woking—Dukes Court 
			 756 Birmingham, Victoria Square Government Offices 
			 757 London, Belgrave Road (prt 5th floor) 
			   
			  Forestry Commission  
			  Exeter—Suite B The Castle Mamhead 
			  Exeter—Suite D The Castle Mamhead 
			  Exeter—Suite H The Castle Mamhead 
			  Cambridge Great Eastern House 
			  Worcester Govt Buildings 
			  Bristol 42b High Street 
			   
			  Consumer Council for Water  
			  Exeter Broadwork House 
			  Darlington Northgate House 
			   
			  Environmental Agency  
			  Norwich Office 
			  Saxmundham 
			  Saxmundham 
			  Sutton Coldfield—Wrens Court 
			  Thirsk—Suite B Thirsk Business Park 
			  Willerby—1A Viking Close 
			  Carlisle—Kingstown Depot 
			  Warrington—Hoyle Street Depot 
			  Penrith—Ullswater Road Depot 
			  Preston—Walton Summit Depot 
			  Exeter—Exminster House 
			  Bath—Phoenix House 
			  West Malling—Orchard House 
			  Timsbury Open Storage 
			  Amersham Office 
			  Abingdon—Home Farm Flood Defence 
			  South Holmwood Depot 
			  Aylesbury—Stonethorpe Farm 
			  Abingdon—Manor Farm 
			  Crickhowell—Units 7 and 8. Negotiating for new lease. 
			  Cardiff—Bay Chambers 
			  Newtown—St. David's House 
			  Bristol—Block 1 and 2 Gov Bldgs 
			  Bristol—Rio House

Departmental Pay

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the average pay per hour worked by  (a) permanent and  (b) temporary staff in his Department in the last period for which figures are available, broken down by pay band.

Jonathan R Shaw: The following tables provide details of the average hourly rate of pay for permanent and temporary staff in DEFRA as at 31 May 2008, for which figures are available.
	
		
			  (a) Average hourly rates of pay for permanent staff (includes fixed-term appointees) 
			  £ 
			  Grade/grade equivalents  London (hourly rate)  National (hourly rate) 
			 AA 9.99 7.91 
			 AO 11.75 9.64 
			 EO 14.22 12.60 
			 HEO 16.57 15.08 
			 SEO 20.09 18.24 
			 Grade 7 26.57 24.34 
			 Grade 6 32.48 29.88 
			 SCS 41.65 38.37 
		
	
	
		
			  (b) Average hourly rates of pay for temporary staff (relates to casual staff only, and not those who are being employed through an agency) 
			  £ 
			  Grade/Grade Equivalents  London (hourly rate)  National (hourly rate) 
			 AA — 7.31 
			 AO — 8.95 
			 EO 13.41 11.33 
			 HEO 15.75 — 
			 SEO 19.47 19.68 
			 Grade 7 24.45 — 
			 Grade 6 32.30 — 
			 SCS — — 
		
	
	The data covers all staff in core-DEFRA and those Executive Agencies covered by the core-Department's pay arrangements (i.e. Animal Health, Veterinary Medicines Directorate, Government Decontamination Service and Marine and Fisheries Agency).

Departmental Pay

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will review salary negotiations for public sector employees in organisations within his Department's responsibility to reflect the rise in the consumer price index to a point above three per cent.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Government's pay policy is guided by the following principles: public sector pay settlements should be consistent with maintaining the necessary levels of recruitment, retention and staff engagement needed to support service delivery, ensuring that total pay bills represent value for money and are affordable within the Departments' overall expenditure plans; and consistent with the achievement of the inflation target. Timing of pay decisions for a particular work force depends on pay-setting arrangements for that work force.

Departmental Responsibilities

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many reviews of regulation  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have conducted or commenced since July 2007; and in which areas.

Jonathan R Shaw: Since 1 July 2007, the Department has issued public consultation documents across its sphere of activities as follows:
	
		
			  Area of activity:  Number of consultations 
			 Climate change and environment protection 36 
			 Food and farming, animal and plant health 23 
			 Natural environment and rural issues 27 
		
	
	These public consultations, which often include impact assessments, review the effect of regulation, and related issues, and make proposals for amendment based on policy objectives and representations received. More detail is available from the DEFRA consultation site at:
	www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/default.asp
	In the main, DEFRA agencies do not have direct policy responsibility for general statutory instruments. However, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate also consults on proposals to amend legislation, including changes to fees levels. More information on current and completed consultations is available from the VMD website at:
	http://www.vmd.gov.uk/publications/consultations/previous.htm
	The Department's annual simplification plans provide detailed information on ongoing simplification initiatives, including those involving reviews of, or amendments to, regulation, and on measures being pursued by DEFRA agencies.

Departmental Vetting

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what procedures his Department follows for checking the criminal records of employees; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: A baseline personnel security standard check is carried out, in accordance with Cabinet Office guidelines, on staff in DEFRA at the point of recruitment. Contract staff, consultants and agency temps employed by the Department are also screened to the same standard.
	Checking the 'unspent' criminal records of employees is an integral part of that process. Recruits are required to complete a criminal records declaration form which, in accordance with the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, does not require them to reveal 'spent' convictions. At present, one in every five declarations is checked, but from October 2008, and in line with Cabinet Office recommendations, all declarations will be checked for unspent convictions through Disclosure Scotland.
	In instances where national security vetting is necessary for a particular post, the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 and the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 (Exceptions) Order 1979 provides for a check of both spent and unspent criminal convictions.
	Depending on the outcome of these checks and the satisfactory completion of the other elements of the baseline personnel security standard process, recruits can take up post and be given access to DEFRA buildings and IT systems.

Departmental Vetting

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of successful applicants for jobs in his Department are subjected to a criminal records check; how many  (a) successful applicants and  (b) criminal records checks there were in each of the last 10 years; how many successful applicants were found to have a criminal record after a criminal records check took place in each of the last 10 years; whether the selection of successful candidates to be subjected to a criminal records check is random or targeted; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: At present, and in accordance with Cabinet Office guidance, one in five applicants are selected at random and checked for 'unspent' criminal convictions. In accordance with the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, applicants are not required to declare 'spent' convictions and therefore, no checks are made in that respect. Unfortunately, figures are not readily available for each of the listed categories and periods concerned and could not be produced without incurring disproportionate cost.

Forests: Nature Conservation

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government are taking to protect the native fauna of natural woodland, with particular reference to the red squirrel, under the terms of the Bern Convention.

Joan Ruddock: The UK Government are involved in an extensive range of measures to conserve our native woodland fauna.
	In England, Bern Convention obligations are implemented through the Wildlife and Countryside Act (WCA) 1981. The red squirrel is listed on Schedule 5 to the WCA and as such is protected from intentional killing, injury, taking, possession, sale or intentional destruction of any structure or place used for shelter.
	The UK Biodiversity Action Plan also includes a Species Action Plan for the red squirrel which primarily aims to maintain self sustaining populations of red squirrels, and wherever practicable expand red squirrel populations where their sustainability is threatened. This action plan is being implemented through a broad partnership of Government, statutory conservation agencies and the private and voluntary sectors.
	The Isle of Wight remains a haven for red squirrels in the south of England. Forestry Commission grants have resulted in 210 hectares of new woodland planting to link fragmented habitat. The Forestry Commission woods, which are managed for red squirrel conservation, have benefited from this linking.
	The Red Alert North England partners have designated 16 reserves and associated buffer zones where long-term survival of the red squirrel is considered most likely. The partners' Save our Squirrels project is delivering advice to landowners, co-ordinating squirrel control in the buffers, promoting Forestry Commission grants, raising public awareness and gaining further funding for squirrel conservation work.
	The Red Squirrel Protection Partnership led by Lord Redesdale was awarded a three year £148,000 grant in June 2006 from the Rural Enterprise Scheme to support the control of grey squirrels in Northumberland to help protect the red squirrel reserves.

Government Communications

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff in  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies (i) are classified as Government communicators and (ii) have access to the Government Communication Network.

Jonathan R Shaw: There are currently 85 staff in my Department engaged in a range of communication related work, who can chose to have access to the Government Communications network (GCN). Staff working in the Department's Agencies do not generally have access the GCN but precise details could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Grasslands: Nature Conservation

Elliot Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what areas of  (a) lowland dry acid grassland,  (b) lowland raised bog and  (c) lowland heathland have been (i) restored or (ii) re-created in England since the publication of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan; and what the targets under the England Biodiversity Strategy are for the restoration and expansion of these habitats by 2015.

Joan Ruddock: Since the publication of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan:
	 (a) The Higher Level Scheme of Environmental Stewardship is funding the restoration or re-creation of 744 ha of lowland dry acid grassland.
	 (b) An estimated 3,500 ha of lowland raised bog is under restoration. It is not possible to re-create lowland raised bog except over very long time scales.
	 (c) An estimated 35,555 ha of lowland heathland has been restored and 6,244 ha has been re-created.
	New estimates of progress, incorporating information from a range of sources and stakeholders, will be available in early 2009 following completion of the next triennial UK Biodiversity Action Plan reporting round.
	The targets under the England Biodiversity Strategy for the restoration and expansion of these habitats from 2005 to 2015 are as follows:
	
		
			  Habitat  Restoration target (ha)  Expansion target (ha) 
			 Lowland dry acid grassland 285 276 
			 Lowland raised bog 1,000 0 
			 Lowland heathland 34,086 6,100

Grey Squirrels: Pest Control

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reasons warfarin is not permitted to be used for the control of grey squirrels during autumn and winter.

Joan Ruddock: The use of Warfarin is controlled by the Grey Squirrel (Warfarin) Order 1973, which permits the poisoning of grey squirrels for the purpose of tree protection. Grey squirrel bark stripping damage is seasonal, occurring from late April until the end of July. Squirrels will re-colonise woodlands from which they have been cleared within one to three months and therefore removing squirrels at any time of the year, other than just prior to and during the damage period, will have little effect on tree damage prevention. In accordance with the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986, the product label specifies that Warfarin may be deployed to control grey squirrels between 15 March and 15 August.
	Warfarin may only be used to control grey squirrels for tree damage prevention, and only 'grey squirrel bait' is approved for use against grey squirrels. Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Warfarin cannot be used where red squirrels or pine martens are present.
	No consideration has been given to extending the period in which Warfarin can be used. The Increased use of Warfarin would go against the stringent requirement in the UK Woodland Assurance Standard for pesticides reduction.

Child Benefit: EC Nationals

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many EEA nationals claiming child benefit in respect of children living overseas have been investigated for fraud in the last 12 months.

Jane Kennedy: Statistical information on child benefit compliance interventions broken down by nationality of the individual is not available.

Revenue and Customs: Wales

Nick Ainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions his Department had with representatives of senior management of the Large Business Sector (oils) in HM Revenue and Customs before publishing the proposal to close the HM Revenue and Customs Pembroke Dock office.

Jane Kennedy: Work force change teams in HM Revenue and Customs have worked and will continue to work closely with all business streams within the Department including the Large Business Service. Initial proposals reflect current business plans and future accommodation requirements both for space and facilities.

Learndirect

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many and what proportion of LearnDirect centres are on the premises of  (a) companies and  (b) other private sector organisations.

David Lammy: The following figures are based on information available at the end of June 2008. LearnDirect is subcontracted to 324 providers and, through these providers, LearnDirect operates in 728 centres in a wide range of settings. 56.5 per cent. (411) of LearnDirect centres are based in the premises of private sector organisations, of which 0.4 per cent. (three) are based in the premises of a company.
	In order to demonstrate how we reach 100 per cent. I have included a full breakdown:
	10.4 per cent. (76) are based in the premises of a charitable/voluntary/community organisation;
	8 per cent. (58) are based in the premises of a public sector organisation;
	22.9 per cent. (167) are based in the premises of a statutory body;
	the type of location of 2.2 per cent. (16) of the total number of centres has not been provided to Ufi.
	Should you have any other questions about Ufi or LearnDirect please do not hesitate to contact us.

Service Industries: Research

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what plans he has to fund research and development assistance to the services sector in 2008-09.

Ian Pearson: The Research Councils support research, training and knowledge exchange that impacts on the services sector. Over the next few years, the Research Councils will jointly fund a significant proportion of their research under six cross-council priority themes, including living with environmental change and the digital economy, and these are expected to be highly relevant to the services sector both public and private.
	The Technology Strategy Board has recently completed call for research focused on the creative industries, and is currently scoping potential activities for the financial services and retail sectors, and investigating other parts of the service sector including logistics, tourism and leisure. Over the next three years, it will double the number of knowledge transfer partnerships and introduce new, shorter, knowledge transfer partnerships (from 10 to 40 weeks) that are particularly focused towards smaller companies, service sectors and creative industries that do not require a more in depth longer term project. It will also increase its investment in challenge-led innovation activities including innovation platforms such as assisted living that will be relevant to the service sector. The assisted living innovation platform, developed and delivered in partnership with the Department of Health and the research councils, aims to significantly advance the technology to meet the demand for independent living from those suffering from chronic long term conditions.
	R&D tax credits are available across industry to any company undertaking qualifying as research and development. Evidence from 2005/06 claims shows that the service sectors are well represented.

Deca-BDE

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether his Department has issued guidance on the use of Deca-BDE; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
	Decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE) is a flame retardant used primarily in plastics and textiles applications. Over an extended period it has been subject to risk assessment action under the EU Existing Substances Regulation; the UK (the Environment Agency) was the rapporteur for the environmental elements of the risk assessment and France was the rapporteur for the human health aspects. As rapporteur the UK has received representations from a wide range of interested parties, including individual companies, industry associations, and NGOs. Contact was also necessary to gather the information needed to carry out the risk assessment.
	The conclusion of the risk assessment is that while decaBDE is very persistent in the environment, it is not on present evidence bioaccumulative, and it is not toxic. As a result it does not meet the criteria for formal risk reduction activity under the Existing Substances Regulation. However, because of its persistence and widespread presence in the environment the manufacturing industry, with encouragement from the Government, has instigated a voluntary initiative known as the Voluntary Emissions Control and reduction Action Programme (VECAP). New codes of good practice for sustainable use of decaBDE in the plastics and textile industries have been issued by the manufacturing industry. The aim of the codes of practice is to ensure improved control of emissions.
	A number of other flame retardants have also been evaluated under the Existing Substances Regulation. In addition, in 2003 the Environment Agency commissioned a report on the Prioritisation of Flame Retardants for Environmental Risk Assessment. The aim of the study was to assess the use of and risks associated with flame retardants, in particular to identify substances that might require detailed consideration in terms of their possible impact on the environment. It also considered issues concerning substitution of flame retardants. The study noted that little was known about the effects of many of the substances, including those sometimes proposed for use as substitutes.

Renewable Energy: Seas and Oceans

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what proposals he is  (a) considering and  (b) implementing on electricity generation from marine sources.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 2 July 2008
	The Renewable Energy Strategy public consultation
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/energy/sources/renewables/strategy/page43356.html
	launched on 26 June invites interested stakeholders and individuals to submit their ideas and views on the best and most cost-effective way of achieving greater use of renewable energy. Marine technologies, both wave and tidal, form part of this consultation as we look to the role renewable energy will play in the future. We are liaising with key stakeholders in marine technologies during the consultation and will take account of their input as we develop our Renewables Energy Strategy.
	On more specific considerations, we are currently conducting a two year feasibility study on whether the Government could support a tidal power project in the Severn estuary and on what terms. The study will assess in broad terms the cost, benefits and impact of a project including environmental, social, regional, economic and energy market impacts.
	We are banding the Renewables Obligation to provide more support for technologies which are further from commercial deployment and this Department has recently launched a consultation
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/consultations/page46710.html
	on its implementation. This will include providing wave and tidal technologies with 2 ROCs per MWh.
	This is in addition to our initiatives to support R and D through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council's 'Supergen Marine' consortium, the Technology Strategy Board, the Energy Technologies Institute and the Marine Renewables Deployment Fund demonstration scheme.
	Recently the Secretary of State granted consent to the South West RDA for wave hub, off North Cornwall—a 20MW capacity wave energy testing facility and to Pulse Tidal Limited for Pulse Tidal Generation device at Upper Burcom in the River Humber—a 0.15MW pre-commercial tidal stream generator device.

Government Communications

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many staff in  (a) her Department and  (b) its agencies (i) are classified as Government communicators and (ii) have access to the Government Communication Network.

Parmjit Dhanda: Key communications staff for the entire civil service are listed in The White Book, published by COI. This is available in the Library of the House and contains a listing for Members of the Department's Communications Directorate. The book is updated twice yearly.
	Information on some agencies and non-departmental bodies is also held in the White Book. Other data is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Housing: Construction

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions her Department has had with  (a) English Partnerships,  (b) the Housing Corporation and  (c) the Housing and Communities Agency Transition Team on measures for increasing the number of (i) homes and (ii) affordable homes built each year in the last 12 months.

Iain Wright: The Minister for Housing announced on 17 June that she has asked English Partnerships, the Housing Corporation and Sir Bob Kerslake, Homes and Communities Agency transition team to work with officials to provide proposals on what more we can do across our programmes to work with RSLs, housebuilders and others to minimise the problems we currently face and create the right conditions for rapid recovery.
	Also Housing Corporation and English Partnerships have been asked to review their programmes to ensure that committed schemes are progressed and that programmes are actively managed.
	A package of measures aimed at speeding up procurement and providing flexibility within the Housing Corporation's affordable housing programme was announced on the 2 July.

Bone Diseases: Medical Treatments

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to monitor the policy of primary care trusts in respect of support for the clinical prescribing of anti-TNF remedies for those diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis.

Ann Keen: All primary care trusts in England and Wales are obliged to fund, from general allocations, anti-tumour necrosis factor therapy for those patients with severe ankylosing spondylitis who meet the clinical guidelines issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). This is effective three months from the date of issue of the guidance by NICE.
	Ensuring compliance with NICE guidance is the responsibility of strategic health authorities, failure risks an adverse report to the Secretary of State from the independent Healthcare Commission. Ultimately, the Secretary of State reserves powers to intervene through the Recovery Support Unit.

Cancer: Per Capita Costs

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what per capita public expenditure on cancer care within South Staffordshire NHS Primary Care Trust area was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Ann Keen: The information requested is not held centrally.

Dementia: Per Capita Costs

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what per capita public expenditure on dementia care within South Staffordshire NHS Primary Care Trust area was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested is not held centrally.

Dental Services: Staffordshire

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many  (a) adults and  (b) children are registered with NHS general dental practices in the South Staffordshire NHS Primary Care Trust area; and how many were registered at Tamworth practices in each year since 1997;
	(2)  what percentage of the  (a) adult and  (b) child population of the South Staffordshire NHS Primary Care Trust area were registered with a dental practitioner in 2007.

Ann Keen: The numbers of patients registered with a national health service dentist as at 31 March, 1997 to 2006 are available in Annex A of the "NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report, England: 31 March 2006". Information is provided for adults and children by strategic health authority (SHA) and by primary care trust (PCT). This information is available by constituency at Annex C.
	Information on the numbers of patients registered with an NHS dentist, as a percentage of the population is available in Annex B of this report. Information is provided for adults and children by SHA and by PCT.
	This information is based on the old contractual arrangements, which were in place up to and including 31 March 2006. This Report was published on 23 August 2006, and copies have already been placed in the Library and is also available on the Information Centre for health and social care's IC's website at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/primary-care/dentistry/nhs-dental-activity-and-workforce-report-england-31-march-2006
	Under the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006, patients do not have to be registered with an NHS dentist to receive NHS care. The closest equivalent measure to 'registration' is the number of patients receiving NHS dental services ('patients seen') over a 24-month period. However, this is not directly comparable to the registration data for earlier years.
	Information on the numbers of patients seen by an NHS dentist in England, over the previous 24-month period, is available in Table CI of Annex 3 of the "NHS Dental Statistics for England: Quarter 3: 31 December 2007" report. Information is available for the 24-month periods ending 31 March 2006, 31 March 2007, 30 June 2007, 30 September 2007, and 31 December 2007. Information is provided for adults and children by SHA and by PCT. Under the new contractual arrangements, information is not available by constituency.
	Information on the numbers of patients seen by an NHS dentist over the previous 24-month period, as a percentage of the population is available in Table C2 of Annex 3. Information is provided for adults and children by SHA and by PCT.
	This report was published on 5 June 2008 and copies have already been placed in the Library and are also available on the IC's website at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dentalstats0708q3
	Both reports have been published by the IC.

Doctors: Housing

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on charging junior doctors for their accommodation.

Ann Keen: The policy is as set out in the "Terms and Conditions of Service of Hospital Medical and Dental Staff and doctors in Public Health Medicine and the Community Health Service in England and Wales (September 2003 as amended)", which reflect the contractual arrangements negotiated with the British Medical Association, copies of this publication are available in the Library. The provisions vary depending on circumstances. Where a junior doctor is required to be resident, no charge will be made. Where a non-resident junior doctor is required to stay overnight in hospital as part of an on-call rota or partial shift system they are required to pay a proportion of the lodging charge depending on their length of stay. Where there is no requirement to be resident, junior doctors may be charged for accommodation in the same way as other national health service staff. Full details can be found in paragraphs 173-183 of the terms and conditions.

Doctors: Housing

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was to each NHS acute trust in the London Strategic Health Authority area of housing junior doctors in NHS-provided accommodation in each of the last five years.

Ann Keen: This information is not collected centrally.

Doctors: Housing

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of junior doctors were housed in NHS-provided accommodation in each NHS acute trust in the London Strategic Health Authority area in each of the last five years.

Ann Keen: This information is not collected centrally.

Doctors: Housing

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 9 June 2008,  Official Report, column 56W, on doctors: housing, what  (a) data and  (b) methodology his Department and NHS employers used to determine the estimate of the number of junior doctors not provided with NHS-funded accommodation included in his Department's evidence to the Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body in 2007.

Ann Keen: The Department made no estimate of the number of junior doctors not provided with national health service-funded accommodation for its 2007 Evidence to the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration. Until August 2007, all first year junior doctors were statutorily required to be resident and therefore had free accommodation provided. Free accommodation continues to be provided for those who are contractually required to be resident. The Department's evidence did include reference to reports that a third of those junior doctors who were eligible for free accommodation did not use it. This was based on an estimate from NHS Employers, who stated in its Evidence that
	"some third of all FYl trainees provided with free residence chose not to occupy it in 2006-07"
	We understand that final numbers suggest that this figure was nearer to a quarter.

Lung Cancer: Research

Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding has been provided from the NHS research and development budget research into lung cancer in each financial year since 1997-98; what research has been funded by such expenditure; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: Over the last 10 years, the main part of the Department's research and development budget has been allocated to and managed by national health service organisations. Those organisations have accounted for their use of the allocations they have received from the Department in an annual research and development report. The reports identify total, aggregated expenditure on national priority areas, including cancer. They do not provide details of research into particular cancer sites.
	The National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI), a United Kingdom wide partnership between Government, charities and industry, makes cancer research information available online via the International Cancer Research Portfolio database at:
	www.cancerportfolio.org.
	Details of current departmental and Medical Research Council site-specific cancer research can be found through this database.
	The NCRI report "Lung Cancer research in the UK 2006" offered an analysis of the reasons for the historically low levels of investment in lung cancer research and made proposals for increasing its scale. Copies of this report have been placed in the Library.

Medical Treatments: Finance

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many recommendations the National Commissioning Group has made on national funding for ultra orphan therapies; whether his Department may overturn any decisions made by the National Specialised Commissioning Group on the funding of ultra orphan therapies; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: The National Commissioning Group (NCG) met in June and made a recommendation to the National Specialised Commissioning Group (NSCG) that the service for patients with paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria met their criteria for national commissioning. This application includes treatment of the condition with a newly licensed ultra-orphan drug, eculizumab. The NSCG will make recommendations about additions to the national commissioning portfolio at its meeting in July.
	Ministers carefully consider the advice of the NCG and the NSCG and make final decisions about any proposed changes to the national specialised commissioning portfolio.

Medical Treatments: Finance

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what systems his Department has in place to prevent geographical variations in prescribing of novel and unique drug therapies for rare disorders which are not appraised by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what plans the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence has to appraise ultra orphan therapies; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: In December 2006, the Government re-issued Good Practice Guidance on Managing the Introduction of New Healthcare Interventions and links to NICE Technology Appraisal Guidance to the local national health service, which states that funding for treatments should not be withheld simply because guidance from the national Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is unavailable but that decisions should be made on the basis of the available evidence. The Guidance also suggests alternative sources of information for NHS organisations to consult in the absence of NICE guidance. Copies of the guidance have already been placed in the Library.
	The draft NHS constitution makes clear the patient's right to expect local decisions on funding for drugs for which NICE guidance is not available to be made rationally following proper consideration of the evidence. Where the local NHS decides not to fund a treatment, the patient and clinician can expect an explanation. To underpin this, the Government will require primary care trusts to put in place clear and transparent arrangements both for local decision-making on funding of new drugs and for considering exceptional funding requests, and to publish information on those arrangements.
	NICE has already appraised a number of orphan drugs but a separate appraisal system for ultra orphan drugs has not been established. This position is kept under review in the context of other developments relating to the Government's policy on new drugs.

Medical Treatments: Finance

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what procedures and under what authority specialist commissioning groups assess funding for ultra orphan therapies; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: Specialised Commissioning Groups (SCGs) are joint-committees of primary care trusts (PCTs) and draw their authority to commission healthcare services from that of their constituent PCTs. The responsibility for considering the funding of new drugs or treatments rests with individual PCTs and SCGs. Commissioners must balance local pressures and priorities for existing services and new developments, taking account of the available evidence of cost and clinical effectiveness.

Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps he plans to take to ensure that patients and clinicians at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre are consulted on proposals put forward by the South Central Strategic Health Authority to merge the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre with another health organisation;
	(2)  what assessment the South Central Strategic Health Authority has made of the  (a) clinical and  (b) financial effects of a merger of the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre with another health organisation.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 7 July 2008
	Decisions about the future of the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust are a matter for the local national health service. The information requested about South Central strategic health authority's (SHA's) assessment of the clinical and financial effects of a merger between the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and another health organisation is not collected centrally.
	The SHA has advised that it is committed to working with its partners in the local health care economy to identify a model which secures the future delivery of the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust services. The hon. Member may therefore wish to raise these issues with the chief executive of South Central strategic health authority.
	NHS organisations have a legal obligation to involve and consult patients and the public in the planning of services, development of proposals for change and consideration of proposals affecting the operation of services. Separately, where it is agreed that the proposals to reconfigure services include any significant change to the way services are provided, local trusts have a duty to consult with the relevant overview and scrutiny committee (OSC). Following the consultation period, the NHS organisations will have to make a decision on the best way forward. Local OSCs have the power to review and scrutinise health services from the perspective of their local populations, and can refer proposals to the Secretary of State if they believe the plans are not in the interests of the health service. Ultimately, however, the configuration of health care services in a particular area is a decision that needs to be taken at a local level.

Radiotherapy: Staffordshire

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time for radiotherapy treatment in South Staffordshire NHS Primary Care Trust area was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Ann Keen: Information about average waiting times for different types of cancer treatment, including radiotherapy, is not collected centrally. Cancer waiting times standards were introduced for all cancer patients from December 2005. They are a maximum wait of 31 days from diagnosis to first cancer treatment and a maximum wait of 62 days from urgent referral for suspected cancer to first cancer treatment. In the last quarter (January to March 2008), performance against these standards in England was 99.5 per cent. and 96.8 per cent. respectively.

Departmental Security

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many departmental identity cards or departmental passes have been reported lost or stolen by staff in  (a) his Department and  (b) each of its executive agencies in the last 24 months.

Shaun Woodward: During the period 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2008, 17 departmental passes were reported lost. Of these two were lost by staff working in Executive Agencies. None were reported stolen.

Approved Premises

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  if he will make it his policy that local residents be consulted before a bail hostel is established in their area;
	(2)  how many bail hostels  (a) are planned and  (b) were set up in the last year for which records are available in (i) Castle Point constituency and (ii) Essex.

David Hanson: The accommodation provided by ClearSprings for defendants on bail and for offenders released on Home Detention Curfew is not hostel accommodation, but normal residential housing with up to five people sharing. The houses are the private rented homes of those occupying them. It is not appropriate to consult the public about where those released from prison, or bailed by the Courts to live in their own homes, may live. ClearSprings are required to consult the police, probation and local authority about the location of the housing they provide. It is our policy to seek planning permission for approved premises, which are hostels.
	No ClearSprings housing for the Bail Accommodation and Support Service has been established in Castle Point or elsewhere in Essex. However, the Regional Offender Manager for East of England has asked ClearSprings to source properties as soon as possible in or near Chelmsford (three beds), Colchester (three beds), Harlow (four beds) and Southend (two x three beds). It is expected that there will also be a need to find a property in the Basildon area in future.

Drugs: Crime

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were convicted for the third time of  (a) trafficking Class A drugs and  (b) domestic burglary in each of the last five years; and what proportion of each received the mandatory minimum sentence applicable.

Jack Straw: The following table shows the number of people sentenced to the mandatory minimum for a third class A drug trafficking offence and third domestic burglary, under section 110 and 111 of the Power of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act (2000).
	
		
			  Table 2.6 Persons sentenced under the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, 2000 to 2006. England and Wales 
			  Number of persons 
			   Section 110: Minimum 7 years for third class A drug trafficking offence  Section 111: Minimum 3 years for third domestic burglary 
			 2000 2 — 
			 2001 1 6 
			 2002 — 2 
			 2003 3 13 
			 2004 4 46 
			 2005 3 89 
			 2006 7 229 
			  Note: Section 109 was replaced on 4 April 2005 by sentences of imprisonment for public protection. Figures therefore relate to offences committed prior to that date. 
		
	
	These are numbers recorded by courts as receiving the mandatory sentence. As the Courts Proceedings Database does not include criminal histories we are not able to identify those convicted for a third time that were not given the mandatory minimum from this data source.

Fairtrade Initiative

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 7 February 2008,  Official Report, column 1433W, on the Fair Trade initiative, how much his Department spent on refreshments for official departmental meetings and engagements in each of the last three financial years; and what percentage of this total was spent on Fair Trade products.

Michael Wills: The Ministry of Justice does not hold central records of the amount spent on refreshments for official departmental meetings and engagements. Therefore, we cannot calculate the percentage of Fairtrade produce as a total of this expenditure. This information could be obtained by manually contacting each division only at disproportionate cost.

Firearms: Sentencing

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have received the mandatory five year sentence for being in possession of a firearm in the last five years.

David Hanson: The following table shows the number of persons sentenced to immediate custody of possession of an illegal firearm eligible for the mandatory minimum, and the proportion who received the mandatory minimum.
	Statistics for 2007 will be published in autumn 2008.
	
		
			  Persons( 1)  sentenced to mandatory five-year custodial sentence for firearms possession offences( 2) , all courts, England and Wales, 2004 - 06 
			  Number of persons and percentage of total 
			   Total persons sentenced  Persons given immediate custody  Of which:  five years or over( 3)  Percentage of total sentenced 
			 2004(4) 736 251 81 11.0 
			 2005 385 242 146 37.9 
			 2006 281 212 141 50.2 
			 (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. (2) Possessing or distributing prohibited weapons or ammunition or firearm disguised as other object. Firearms Act 1968 sections 5(1)(a), (ab), (aba), (ac), (ad), (ae), (af) or (c) and section 5(1A)(a) as amended by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 section 287. (3) Three years in the case of persons aged 16-17. (4) Many of the persons dealt with in 2004 will have committed their offences prior to the mandatory sentence being introduced in January 2004.  Note: These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system.  Source: OMS Analytical Services

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many prisoner-on-staff assaults there were in each of the last five years, listed by prison;
	(2)  how many prisoner-on-staff assaults were  (a) referred to and  (b) investigated by police forces in each of the last five years, listed by prison.

Jack Straw: Table 1 shows incidents of prisoner on staff assaults in each of the last five years by prison.
	The information set out is subject to important qualifications. The NOMS Incident Reporting System processes high volumes of data which are constantly being updated. The numbers provide a good indication of overall numbers but should not be interpreted as absolute.
	Assault information is recorded at establishment level in four categories: Prisoner on Prisoner, Prisoner on Officer, Other (including miscellaneous assault information) and Prisoner on Other. The recorded incidents of assaults on prison officers are not completely exclusive to officers; establishment recording sometimes includes assaults on other prison staff in this category. Rises or falls in reported numbers from one year to the next are not a good indicator of an underlying trend for a particular prison. Additionally there have been improvements in reporting over the years, and this is reflected in the tables.
	Assault data are complex and the numbers need to be interpreted with caution. Information recorded as assault incidents may involve one or many prisoners as some assault incidents may involve more than one assailant or more than one victim. Additionally in a proportion of incidents only the victim is known.
	The numbers supplied refer to the number of individual assault incidents. The numbers refer to all incidents recorded as assaults; these may also include threatening behaviour, projection of bodily fluids and other non-contact events and allegations.
	The category 'Prisoner on Other' contains few entries but these may include prison staff as well as visitors, legal visitors etc. For the purpose of this response the categories 'Prisoner on Officer' and 'Prisoner on Other' are used.
	
		
			  Table 1: Prisoner on staff assaults 
			  Prison name  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007( 1) 
			 Acklington 3 3 5 8 9 
			 Albany 3 — — 3 n/a 
			 Altcourse 48 51 47 39 53 
			 Ashfield 70 90 180 136 100 
			 Ashwell 1 — — 5 3 
			 Aylesbury 15 6 17 18 14 
			 Bedford 14 11 15 31 13 
			 Belmarsh 52 43 35 22 22 
			 Birmingham 59 85 99 81 78 
			 Blakenhurst 27 56 46 34 38 
			 Blundeston 3 4 7 7 1 
			 Brinsford 39 34 19 10 17 
			 Bristol 26 48 28 41 15 
			 Brixton 52 72 50 37 41 
			 Brockhill 6 10 14 9 3 
			 Bronzefield — 20 87 81 43 
			 Buckley Hall 38 19 25 14 11 
			 Bullingdon 23 16 17 23 24 
			 Bullwood Hall 1 — 9 6 3 
			 Camphill 13 9 12 5 n/a 
			 Canterbury 9 4 4 3 4 
			 Cardiff 11 16 19 14 6 
			 Castington 56 57 50 46 46 
			 Channings Wood 4 10 10 8 16 
			 Chelmsford 16 22 37 53 21 
			 Coldingley 1  1 3 8 
			 Cookham Wood 14 5 3 1 2 
			 Dartmoor 9 5 12 7 10 
			 Deerbolt 6 28 33 22 34 
			 Doncaster 28 23 26 47 29 
			 Dorchester 4 2 10 9 9 
			 Dovegate 48 80 35 59 43 
			 Downview 6 8 29 9 12 
			 Drake Hall — — 1 1 — 
			 Durham 34 31 42 46 58 
			 East Sutton Park 1 1 — — — 
			 Eastwood Park 13 7 21 28 8 
			 Edmunds Hill 9 23 9 13 2 
			 Elmley 25 21 30 17 28 
			 Erlestoke — 2 2 2 10 
			 Everthorpe 2 2 10 14 13 
			 Exeter 12 3 7 12 9 
			 Featherstone 8 21 8 9 17 
			 Feltham 103 173 138 118 107 
			 Ford 3 7 ' 5 3 4 
			 Forest Bank 63 78 88 54 34 
			 Foston Hall 18 8 13 28 27 
			 Frankland 5 15 12 10 21 
			 Full Sutton 13 12 17 14 9 
			 Garth 11 5 7 9 9 
			 Gartree — 1 2 3 1 
			 Glen Parva 29 39 31 45 56 
			 Gloucester 17 6 13 15 6 
			 Grendon/Spring Hill — — — — 1 
			 Guys Marsh 6 5 3 14 16 
			 Haverigg 7 2 1 5 18 
			 Hewell Grange — — 2 — 1 
			 High Down 51 59 40 71 67 
			 Highpoint 22 19 16 23 22 
			 Hindley 27 14 32 58 48 
			 Hollesley Bay 4 3 — 1 — 
			 Holloway 104 108 89 111 104 
			 Holme House 21 19 27 24 20 
			 Hull 32 30 33 25 33 
			 Huntercombe 19 15 15 33 24 
			 Kingston 1 — 2 2 — 
			 Kirkham — 1 — — 2 
			 Lancaster — 3 1 2 1 
			 Lancaster Farms 9 28 47 56 39 
			 Leeds 79 40 36 17 18 
			 Leicester 11 6 7 18 7 
			 Lewes 22 11 21 17 17 
			 Leyhill — 1 1 — 3 
			 Lincoln 12 23 22 15 23 
			 Lindholme 19 6 13 13 20 
			 Littlehey 13 10 10 5 4 
			 Liverpool 46 38 24 21 31 
			 Long Lartin 5 5 15 12 15 
			 Low Newton 16 27 31 21 20 
			 Lowdham Grange 5 13 17 36 39 
			 Maidstone 6 5 1 — 5 
			 Manchester 61 63 73 65 78 
			 Moorland 22 13 20 16 15 
			 Morton Hall 1 3 3 5 1 
			 Mount 13 8 12 15 21 
			 New Hall 23 19 29 60 48 
			 North Sea Camp 2 1 — — 1 
			 Northallerton 19 22 14 9 8 
			 Norwich 25 18 18 18 1 
			 Nottingham 16 33 15 25 47 
			 Onley 98 15 29 32 25 
			 Parc 59 61 50 51 53 
			 Parkhurst 18 15 16 3 n/a 
			 Pentonville 91 97 123 61 69 
			 Peterborough — — 75 141 115 
			 Portland 16 39 40 42 39 
			 Preston 11 18 25 29 45 
			 Ranby 9 3 3 17 17 
			 Reading 7 16 16 12 9 
			 Risley 19 27 32 29 23 
			 Rochester 16 18 23 13 4 
			 Rye Hill 21 39 65 48 43 
			 Send 4 — 2 3 1 
			 Shepton Mallet 1 — 1 — 2 
			 Shrewsbury 14 5 4 7 7 
			 Stafford 13 7 13 14 10 
			 Standford Hill — — — 1 1 
			 Stocken 10 8 12 7 9 
			 Stoke Heath 20 39 56 69 76 
			 Styal 7 12 13 32 46 
			 Sudbury 2 — 1 1 — 
			 Swaleside 17 16 9 11 8 
			 Swansea 8 4 4 6 — 
			 Swinfen Hall 9 4 10 10 9 
			 Thorn Cross 4 1 1 4 1 
			 Usk/Prescoed — — — 1 1 
			 Verne 1 6 4 — — 
			 Wakefield 8 8 9 8 15 
			 Wandsworth 78 86 87 38 36 
			 Warren Hill 12 21 34 42 50 
			 Wayland 11 9 3 9 10 
			 Wealstun 2 — 3 2 6 
			 Weare 11 6 4 — — 
			 Wellingborough 1 2 16 14 5 
			 Werrington 24 19 19 22 12 
			 Wetherby 14 77 72 60 37 
			 Whatton 1 1 — 4 12 
			 Whitemoor 15 16 19 11 22 
			 Winchester 13 15 12 10 4 
			 Wolds 8 13 4 9 3 
			 Woodhill 36 39 71 68 52 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 40 74 60 58 70 
			 Wymott 2 — 4 4 4 
			   
			 Total 2,541 2,799 3,171 3,148 2,916 
			 (1) The 2007 figures do not include the three prisons (Albany, Camphill and Parkhurst where the incident recording has transferred to the NOMIS system. 
		
	
	Table 2 provides details of when the police have been informed following an assault on prison staff (as recorded on the NOMS Incident Recording System). There are a variety of reasons why assaults on staff may not be reported to the police, including consideration of internal sanctions and wishes of individuals.
	On 18 February, an announcement was made that HMPS had made joint commitment with the POA to 'Zero Tolerance', and that I would be pursuing with my right hon. Friends the Attorney-General (Baroness Scotland) and Home Secretary (Jacqui Smith) the role of the police and the CPS in a more vigorous approach to prosecuting alleged assaults on staff.
	Current guidance is that alleged assaults should be referred to the police if a weapon causing, or likely to cause, serious injury was used, if serious injury occurred by any means, if serious violence intended or likely to cause more than minor injury was used, or where there has been personal sexual violation other than rape of an especially vulnerable victim or threats of violence. Any alleged assault amounting to unlawful imprisonment (hostage-taking) should also be referred. If the Governor decides not to refer the case to the police, or if no prosecution follows, the Governor will consider referring the charge to an independent adjudicator (District Judge), who is empowered to impose punishments of additional days, as well as any of the punishments available to Governors under the Prison Rules. Serious assaults (based on the level of injury, pre-planning, or a previous history of violence) will normally be referred to the independent adjudicator. Other assaults will be dealt with by the Governor through the adjudication process.
	
		
			  Table 2: Assaults on staff reported to the police 
			  Prison name  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007( 1) 
			 Acklington — — 1 1 1 
			 Albany — — — 2 n/a 
			 Altcourse 2 — 5 2 3 
			 Ashfield 2 — — 12 6 
			 Ashwell — — — 1 — 
			 Aylesbury 3 — — — 1 
			 Bedford 2 3 3 3 — 
			 Belmarsh — — 1 2 1 
			 Birmingham 3 4 4 — 4 
			 Blakenhurst 4 6 4 9 9 
			 Blundeston — 1 3 2 — 
			 Brinsford 4 2 9 4 — 
			 Bristol 4 10 8 6 7 
			 Brixton 1 3 4 — 7 
			 Brockhill 1 3 9 2 2 
			 Bronzefield — 5 4 2 2 
			 Buckley Hall 3 3 1 1 1 
			 Bullingdon 2 4 3 2 1 
			 Bullwood Hall 1 — 3 3 — 
			 Camphill 3 6 1 1 n/a 
			 Canterbury — 1 — — — 
			 Cardiff 1 1 2 2 — 
			 Castington 2 3 3 1 3 
			 Channings Wood 1 1 5 1 4 
			 Chelmsford — 2 5 7 4 
			 Coldingley 1 — 1 — 2 
			 Cookham Wood 2 — 1 1 — 
			 Dartmoor 5 2' 2 1 6 
			 Deerbolt 1 7 6 5 1 
			 Doncaster 1 1 1 — — 
			 Dorchester 2 — 1 4 2 
			 Dovegate 8 9 2 6 10 
			 Downview 1 1 1 1 4 
			 Durham 4 4 — — 5 
			 Eastwood Park 1 1 3 1 1 
			 Edmunds Hill — 3 1 1 1 
			 Elmley 6 3 1 1 4 
			 Erlestoke — 1 2 — 5 
			 Everthorpe 1 1 1 4 1 
			 Exeter 3 2 4 6 2 
			 Featherstone 2 4 3 1 1 
			 Feltham 11 5 1 4 1 
			 Ford — 6 3 — 3 
			 Forest Bank 9 10 8 7 3 
			 Foston Hall — — 2 4 2 
			 Frankland 3 6 2 — 5 
			 Full Sutton 6 5 9 4 2 
			 Garth 1 — 3 4 3 
			 Gartree — 1 2 1 — 
			 Glen Parva — 4 2 5 7 
			 Gloucester 3 4 5 2 2 
			 Grendon/Spring Hill — — — — 1 
			 Guys Marsh 2 1 2 3 4 
			 Haverigg 5 1 — 1 6 
			 Hewell Grange — — 2 — 1 
			 High Down 1 1 4 5 — 
			 Highpoint 3 4 2 8 5 
			 Hindley 2 3 3 1 5 
			 Hollesley Bay — 2 — 1 — 
			 Holloway 7 5 2 3 4 
			 Holme House 1 2 3 1 3 
			 Hull 4 2 2 3 6 
			 Huntercombe 3 — 4 7 4 
			 Kirkham — — — — 1 
			 Lancaster — 1 — 2 — 
			 Lancaster Farms 2 8 I 1 4 
			 Leeds 4 1 1 — 2 
			 Leicester — 2 — 8 2 
			 Lewes — 3 6 1 3 
			 Lincoln — 3 2 1 3 
			 Lindholme 2 3 1 3 2 
			 Littlehey 2 1 1 — 2 
			 Liverpool 1 2 5 — 5 
			 Long Lartin 5 5 10 12 13 
			 Low Newton 3 1 3 1 2 
			 Lowdham Grange — 2 6 2 1 
			 Maidstone 2 2 1 — 2 
			 Manchester 5 1 — 3 2 
			 Moorland 1 — 1 1 3 
			 Mount 4 1 — 1 4 
			 New Hall 1 2 1 2 2 
			 North Sea Camp — 1 — — — 
			 Northallerton — 4 — 1 1 
			 Norwich 7 6 9 6 1 
			 Nottingham 1 2 2 2 5 
			 Onley 6 1 2 2 1 
			 Parc 1 3 7 1 2 
			 Parkhurst 4 2 3 1 n/a 
			 Pentonville 1 2 7 3 4 
			 Peterborough — — 6 12 11 
			 Portland 3 1 2 3 6 
			 Preston 4 2 4 7 5 
			 Ranby 2 2 1 3 8 
			 Reading 1 — — 1 — 
			 Risley 4 1 11 8 10 
			 Rochester 1 5 3   
			 Rye Hill 2 4 2 4 1 
			 Send 2 — 1 — — 
			 Shepton Mallet — — 1 — — 
			 Shrewsbury 1 1 1 2 — 
			 Stafford 10 1 2 8 3 
			 Stocken — 2 2 2 — 
			 Stoke Heath 8 1 2 3 1 
			 Styal 2 — 1 5 3 
			 Sudbury — — 1 — — 
			 Swaleside 4 6 2 7 4 
			 Swansea 3 1 1 — — 
			 Swinfen Hall — 1 2 2 3 
			 Thorn Cross 2 — 1 — — 
			 Usk/Prescoed — — — — 1 
			 Verne — 4 1 — — 
			 Wakefield 3 — 2 1 2 
			 Wandsworth 4 5 10 1 — 
			 Warren Hill 1 — 3 1 1 
			 Wayland 5 3 2 1 5 
			 Wealstun 1 — — — — 
			 Weare 3 2 1 — — 
			 Wellingborough 1 — 5 2 — 
			 Werrington 9 3 6 1 1 
			 Wetherby 6 7 10 1 4 
			 Whatton — — — — — 
			 Whitemoor 1 1 2 1 2 
			 Winchester 2 5 4 1 1 
			 Wolds 1 — — — — 
			 Woodhill 1 — 3 — — 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 7 3 6 3 4 
			 Wymott — — 1 1 1 
			   
			 Total 284 279 340 297 312 
			 (1) The 2007 figures do not include the three prisons (Albany, Camphill and Parkhurst where the incident recording has transferred to the NOMIS system. 
		
	
	Information about action taken by the police is not held centrally and can be provided at only disproportionate cost.

Lebanon: Elections

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the UK plans to provide  (a) financial and  (b) technical support for the conduct of the 2009 parliamentary elections in Lebanon; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: The UK places great importance on free, fair and transparent elections in Lebanon in 2009, which takes into account existing proposals for reform as agreed at the Doha conference.
	The UK is working closely with the EU and UN, who have taken a lead on these issues. In June 2008, the EU sent two election experts to Lebanon to consider the technical feasibility of electoral reforms and to identify areas for EU support to help improve the electoral system in Lebanon. We fully support this and will continue to explore options to provide bilateral assistance in support of EU and UN efforts.

Torture

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government have taken to discourage other states from practising torture.

Meg Munn: holding answer 3 July 2008
	Although a large number of states have ratified various international conventions prohibiting torture, torture continues to be committed with impunity in many parts of the world. The UK remains fundamentally opposed to torture and continues to be one of the most active countries in the world in the fight to eradicate it.
	For example, we continue to support wider ratification of the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT) and its Optional Protocol (OPCAT) through bilateral lobbying campaigns, EU demarches and our work in UN fora such as the Human Rights Council. We also use a combination of project work and diplomatic activity to encourage implementation of OPCAT, including by the establishment of national preventative mechanisms. Since OPCAT was opened for signature on 4 February 2003, 61 states have become a signatory. As of July 2008, 35 states have ratified OPCAT, most recently Guatemala in June 2008. This marks significant progress, although there is of course more to be done.
	Further information on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) work in this field can be found in the FCO's 2007 Annual Human Rights Report, which is available on the FCO's website at:
	www.fco.gov.uk

Employment

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of working age adults with fewer than five GCSEs at grade A* to C were in employment in each local authority area in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Tom Watson: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 8 July 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question asking how many and what proportion of working age adults were in employment in each local authority in each year since 1997 (215925); and, how many and what proportion of working age adults with fewer than five GCSEs at grade A* to C were in employment in each local authority in each year since 1997.
	The Office for National Statistics compiles employment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) and its predecessor the annual Labour Force Survey (LFS) following International Labour Organisation definitions.
	Table 1 shows the number of working age persons in employment (Males aged 16-64, Females Aged 16-59) in each local authority for the 12 month periods ending in February, for 1998-2004, from the annual LFS, and for the 12 month periods ending December, for 2004-2007, from the APS. Table 2 shows the percentage of persons of working age in employment for the same periods and geographies as Table 1.
	Tables 3 and 4 show the number and proportion of working age persons in employment (Males aged 16-64, Females Aged 16-59) with fewer than 5 GCSEs at grade A* to C, or equivalent, in each local authority for the same periods as Table 1. Unfortunately, comparable data on qualifications is not available prior to 2001 for these geographies. Copies of the tables have been placed in the House of Commons Library.
	As these estimates are for a subset of the population in small geographical areas, they are based on small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty.

Incapacity Benefit: Children

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children aged  (a) under five,  (b) five to 11 and  (c) 12 to 16 years are estimated to be living in households in receipt of incapacity benefit in each London local authority area.

Stephen Timms: The information is not available for households in the format requested. The available information, which is for the numbers of children who have a parent or guardian in receipt of a relevant benefit, is in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of children dependent on a parent or guardian claiming incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance. London local authorities: April 2007 
			   Aged 0 to 4  Aged 5 to 11  Aged 12 to 16 
			 City of London 10 15 10 
			 Barking and Dagenham 680 1,160 995 
			 Barnet 755 1,180 955 
			 Bexley 350 580 585 
			 Brent 1,055 1,580 1,325 
			 Bromley 470 745 650 
			 Camden 835 1,075 825 
			 Croydon 735 1,225 1,195 
			 Ealing 890 1,530 1,435 
			 Enfield 1,165 1,770 1,520 
			 Greenwich 705 1,140 1,070 
			 Hackney 945 1,445 1,250 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 480 780 685 
			 Haringey 975 1,500 1,235 
			 Harrow 545 930 815 
			 Havering 380 695 770 
			 Hillingdon 655 1,010 900 
			 Hounslow 645 1,080 970 
			 Islington 720 1,035 915 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 355 500 440 
			 Kingston upon Thames 180 295 260 
			 Lambeth 750 1,010 950 
			 Lewisham 740 1,135 1,045 
			 Merton 280 505 450 
			 Newham 1,150 1,940 1,840 
			 Red bridge 685 1,185 1,095 
			 Richmond upon Thames 185 275 290 
			 Southwark 775 1,125 1,070 
			 Sutton 295 480 425 
			 Tower Hamlets 1,280 2,115 1,805 
			 Waltham Forest 835 1,245 1,185 
			 Wandsworth 510 765 745 
			 Westminster 980 1,370 925 
			  Notes: 1. All figures supplied have been rounded to protect the confidentiality of claimants. 2 All data represents a snapshot in time of claimants on the computer system, and will therefore exclude a very small number of cases that are held clerically. 3. The parent or guardian may be in receipt of other benefits.  4. Information on child dependents is not reliably completed on the benefit computer system, therefore children have been merged onto incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claims from child benefit records with permission from HMRC.  Source:  DWP Information Directorate

Social Security Benefits: Children

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of all children under 16 years old were living in households dependent on benefits in each parliamentary constituency in London in 2008.

Stephen Timms: The information is not available for households in the format requested. The available information, which is for the percentage of children who have a parent or guardian in receipt of a relevant benefit, is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Proportion of children under 16 dependent on a parent or guardian claiming one or more of incapacity benefit (IB), severe disablement allowance (SDA), jobseeker's allowance (JSA), income support (IS), or pension credit (PC): in London parliamentary constituencies, as at April 2007 
			   Percentage 
			 Barking 35.3 
			 Battersea 25.0 
			 Beckenham 16.1 
			 Bethnal Green and Bow 44.7 
			 Bexleyheath and Crayford 16.8 
			 Brent East 32.2 
			 Brent North 22.9 
			 Brent South 34.0 
			 Brentford and Isleworth 22.0 
			 Bromley and Chislehurst 14.6 
			 Camberwell and Peckham 37.2 
			 Carshalton and Wallington 20.2 
			 Chingford and Woodford Green 21.4 
			 Chipping Barnet 16.7 
			 Cities of London and Westminster 22.8 
			 Croydon Central 29.4 
			 Croydon North 27.8 
			 Croydon South 14.7 
			 Dagenham 34.0 
			 Dulwich and West Norwood 25.3 
			 Ealing Acton and Shepherd's Bush 33.6 
			 Ealing North 25.8 
			 Ealing Southall 25.7 
			 East Ham 33.1 
			 Edmonton 37.1 
			 Eltham 27.6 
			 Enfield North 33.8 
			 Enfield Southgate 17.3 
			 Erith and Thamesmead 31.8 
			 Feltham and Heston 28.4 
			 Finchley and Golders Green 16.3 
			 Greenwich and Woolwich 36.4 
			 Hackney North and Stoke Newington 30.2 
			 Hackney South and Shoreditch 44.9 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 29.1 
			 Hampstead and Highgate 29.1 
			 Harrow East 23.0 
			 Harrow West 17.9 
			 Hayes and Harlington 30.4 
			 Hendon 25.6 
			 Holborn and St. Pancras 41.2 
			 Hornchurch 17.2 
			 Hornsey and Wood Green 26.9 
			 Ilford North 21.4 
			 Ilford South 29.6 
			 Islington North 41.4 
			 Islington South and Finsbury 45.8 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 15.1 
			 Kingston and Surbiton 14.5 
			 Lewisham Deptford 33.9 
			 Lewisham East 33.6 
			 Lewisham West 30.3 
			 Leyton and Wanstead 28.4 
			 Mitcham and Morden 24.5 
			 North Southwark and Bermondsey 37.4 
			 Old Bexley and Sidcup 10.8 
			 Orpington 17.5 
			 Poplar and Canning Town 46.8 
			 Putney 23.9 
			 Regent's Park and Kensington North 43.0 
			 Richmond Park 10.0 
			 Romford 17.6 
			 Ruislip-Northwood 12.9 
			 Streatham 31.3 
			 Sutton and Cheam 11.6 
			 Tooting 20.8 
			 Tottenham 43.5 
			 Twickenham 10.7 
			 Upminster 18.8 
			 Uxbridge 22.9 
			 Vauxhall 37.7 
			 Walthamstow 32.9 
			 West Ham 36.1 
			 Wimbledon 8.5 
			  Notes: 1. All data represents a snapshot in time of claimants on the computer system and will therefore exclude a very small number of cases that are held clerically. 2. Information on child dependents is not reliably completed on the benefit computer systems; therefore children have been merged onto IS/JSA/IB/SDA/PC claims from child benefit records with permission from HMRC. 3. The total numbers of children aged 0-15 on child benefit in each parliamentary constituency at the relevant year have been used as the denominator for the percentages given.  Source:  DWP Information Directorate

Social Security Benefits: Children

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which 100 wards had the highest proportion of children dependent on benefits in the latest period for which figures are available.

Stephen Timms: The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Proportion of children under 16 dependent on a parent or guardian who is claiming one or more of incapacity benefit (IB), severe disablement allowance (SDA), jobseeker's allowance (JSA), income support (IS), or pension credit (PC) —t he 100 wards with the highest proportion, as at April 2007 
			  Local authority  Ward  Proportion (percentage) 
			 Glasgow City Keppochhill 62.3 
			 Liverpool Granby 61.9 
			 Knowsley Princess 61.6 
			 Manchester Moss Side 61.2 
			 Liverpool Vauxhall 60.7 
			 Rhondda, Cynon, Taff Pen-y-waun 59.6 
			 Liverpool Everton 59.4 
			 Glasgow City Bridgeton/Dalmarnock 59.3 
			 Rhondda, Cynon, Taff Maerdy 58.7 
			 Liverpool Breckfield 58.5 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne West City 58.5 
			 Swansea Townhill 58.5 
			 Redcar and Cleveland Grangetown 58.3 
			 Knowsley Longview 57.5 
			 Bristol, City of Lawrence Hill 57.5 
			 Glasgow City Queenslie 57.4 
			 Liverpool Smithdown 57.2 
			 North Lanarkshire Craigneuk 56.7 
			 Middlesbrough Thorntree 56.6 
			 Manchester Harpurhey 56.4 
			 Glasgow City Royston 56.4 
			 Westminster Church Street 55.6 
			 Salford Pendleton 55.6 
			 Knowsley Cantril Farm 55.5 
			 Sefton Linacre 55.5 
			 Glasgow City Summerhill 55.2 
			 Glasgow City Hutchesontown 55.2 
			 Kingston upon Hull, City of Orchard Park and Greenwood 55.0 
			 Glasgow City Parkhead 54.7 
			 Manchester Hulme 54.6 
			 Tower Hamlets Bow East 54.5 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne Walker 54.4 
			 Westminster Westbourne 54.3 
			 Edinburgh, City of Craigmillar 54.3 
			 Wrexham Wynnstay 54.1 
			 Glasgow City Barlanark 54.1 
			 Tendring Rush Green 54.0 
			 Tower Hamlets East India and Lansbury 53.8 
			 Salford Blackfriars 53.6 
			 Glasgow City Glenwood 53.4 
			 Caerphilly Twyn Carno 53.3 
			 Neath Port Talbot Briton Ferry West 53.1 
			 Swansea Penderry 53.0 
			 Glasgow City Easterhouse 53.0 
			 Wirral Tranmere 52.7 
			 Glasgow City Ibrox 52.7 
			 Liverpool Speke 52.6 
			 Hartlepool Stranton 52.6 
			 Wirral Bidston 52.4 
			 Merthyr Tydfil Gurnos 52.3 
			 Manchester Beswick and Clayton 52.2 
			 Cardiff Butetown 52.2 
			 Glasgow City Springburn 52.2 
			 Liverpool Melrose 52.1 
			 Wirral Birkenhead 51.9 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne Monkchester 51.9 
			 Denbighshire Rhyl West 51.9 
			 Manchester Benchill 51.8 
			 Bridgend Bettws 51.7 
			 Kensington and Chelsea Golborne 51.2 
			 Tendring Golf Green 51.2 
			 Tower Hamlets Mile End East 51.0 
			 Glasgow City Milton 51.0 
			 Nottingham St. Ann's 50.8 
			 Westminster Queen's Park 50.7 
			 Middlesbrough Park End 50.7 
			 Neath Port Talbot Sandfields West 50.7 
			 Rhondda, Cynon, Taff Tylorstown 50.7 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham College Park and Old Oak 50.6 
			 Salford Langworthy 50.6 
			 Haringey Northumberland Park 50.5 
			 Manchester Central 50.5 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne Byker 50.5 
			 Glasgow City Wyndford 50.4 
			 Manchester Bradford 50.3 
			 Glasgow City Drumry 50.3 
			 Renfrewshire Ferguslie 50.3 
			 Hackney Hoxton 50.2 
			 Telford and Wrekin Woodside 50.2 
			 Liverpool Pirrie 50.1 
			 Wrexham Queensway 50.1 
			 Manchester Ardwick 50.0 
			 Kingston upon Hull, City of Southcoates East 50.0 
			 St. Helens Parr and Hardshaw 49.9 
			 Glasgow City Braidfauld 49.9 
			 Haringey White Hart Lane 49.8 
			 Islington Bunhill 49.6 
			 Manchester Newton Heath 49.6 
			 Liverpool Kensington 49.5 
			 Hackney Wick 49.4 
			 Tower Hamlets Limehouse 49.3 
			 Knowsley Northwood 49.3 
			 Liverpool Abercromby 49.3 
			 Nottingham Aspley 49.2 
			 Glasgow City Merchant City 49.1 
			 Brent Stonebridge 49.0 
			 Cardiff Ely 49.0 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham Wormholt and White City 48.8 
			 Islington Finsbury Park 48.8 
			 Sandwell Soho and Victoria 48.8 
			  Notes:  1. All data represents a snapshot in time of claimants on the computer system, and will therefore exclude a very small number of cases that are held clerically.  2. Information on child dependents is not reliably completed on the benefit computer systems; therefore children have been merged onto IS/JSA/IB/SDA/PC claims from child benefit records with permission from HMRC.  3. The total numbers of children aged 0-15 on child benefit in each parliamentary constituency at the relevant year have been used as the denominator for the percentages given.  Source:  DWP Information Directorate.

Departmental Written Questions

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how long on average his Department took to answer  (a) ordinary written and  (b) named day questions in each of the last three years.

Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development is committed to responding to written parliamentary questions promptly. Since the start of the 2007-08 Session to date:
	 (a) 78 per cent. of 1n091 ordinary written questions have been answered within five sitting days.
	 (b) 87 per cent. of 217 named day questions have been answered on the day specified.
	Information to the level of detail requested could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.